Given that no away side had left the Metropolitano with a victory across the last two UCL campaigns, it was a surprise to see Leipzig snatch an early advantage.
The counter-attacking goal was started and finished by Benjamin Sesko, who set up a Loïs Openda effort before reacting quicker than Robin Le Normand to Jan Oblak’s save and heading in on the rebound.
Atleti sought to respond immediately, and it was a wonder they didn’t get their equaliser when Rodrigo Riquelme broke through, with only a brilliant block from Willi Orban to deny Antoine Griezmann keeping the visitors in front.
Angel Correa then flicked onto the far post from a corner, but Colchoneros fans did not have long to wait for the leveller, which came from a familiar source.
Marcos Llorente whipped in a cross from the right for Griezmann, who was left all alone in the centre of the area to steer into the roof of the net.
That strike took him above the great Ferenc Puskas as the 20th all-time top scorer in European football’s top club competition, and the Frenchman fired over in the search for another just after the restart.
Things quietened down after that chance, with neither side willing to relinquish their position, but both managers made positive substitutions in an attempt to breathe new life into their respective attacking play.
Ex-Leipzig man Alexander Sorloth subsequently put his header straight at Peter Gulacsi, before Yussuf Poulsen glanced just wide of the upright.
The visitors sat back to protect their point after that, allowing a desperate late onslaught from their opponents, and there was to be one late twist to the tale.
One of the hosts’ many crosses into the box came from Griezmann in the 90th minute, and Jose Maria Gimenez rose above Nicolas Seiwald at the far post to nod across goal and into the far corner.
Diego Simeone took the opportunity to storm down the touchline in celebration of a satisfying comeback victory, but there’s still a lot of football to play before his side can think about advancing beyond the quarter-finals for the first time since 2017.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)