Ferland Mendy grabbed a late winner to earn lacklustre Real Madrid a 1-0 win over 10-man Atalanta in Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg.

Real’s task appeared to have been made much easier after Atalanta’s Remo Freuler was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Mendy a goal-scoring opportunity.

Against the 10 men, however, Zinedine Zidane’s side, who were missing several high-profile players through injury, struggled to break down the hosts, and Real had only one shot on target in the rest of the first half.

Atalanta continued to defend doggedly after the interval, but Mendy’s superb strike in the 86th minute gave the record 13-time European champions a slender lead to take into the second leg.

“We didn’t play well, but the important thing is the result,” Zidane said.

“We couldn’t find any space. If you have to play against 10 men it is hard to play without space. But for us it’s very important to have found the goal, especially an away goal.”