To force a Madrid get-together in the semi-final against Real Madrid, Diego Simeone’s team had to brush away the 1-0 defeat of the first leg. The fact that this had to be done in-house made the task even more difficult. The Spaniards have not yet won a home game in the Champions League this season.
The atmosphere at the Wanda Metropolitano was excellent from the very first moment. More than 68,000 spectators created a wonderful atmosphere in the stadium. For a long time, it looked like much fewer supporters were allowed to be present because of a punishment for the Spaniards. However, that sentence has been suspended, so a full house was still possible.
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other keg
Atlético knew it had to do something different on Wednesday evening than last week when it failed to score a single goal and that was soon clear. The Spaniards immediately looked for the attack from the kick-off and put much more pressure than a week earlier, but it did not yield any real great opportunities.
City seemed to have to take an early setback, after Phil Foden was left lying on the ground after a beating with a head injury. Jack Grealish was immediately sent off the couch to warm up, but Foden was able to continue with a bandage on his head.
The first real big chance of the game came after half an hour of play for the visitors. Foden put the ball wide at İlkay Gündogan, but the German saw his bet hit the post.
More dangerous
The break seemed to have done Atlético well, as Simeone’s team shot out of the starting blocks and seemed to have completely found faith. João Félix and Antoine Griezmann had chances to score the opening goal, but the English still held their ground. It was a one-way street in Spain and City regularly had to pull out all the stops not to concede a goal.
With twenty minutes left to force something, Simeone decided to bring in no fewer than three fresh forces. But even with Yannick Carrasco, Rodrigo De Paul and Ángel Correa in the squad for Antoine Griezmann, Koke and Renan Lodi, Atlético failed to score despite frantic efforts. Also Luis Suárez could not provide the much desired goal.
Shortly before time, the flame was still in the pan, after Felipe stood full on Foden’s ankle. Stefan Savic, Nathan Aké and Felipe had to pay for this with a yellow card. For Felip it was his second and so Atlético had to continue with ten men during the absolute final phase. The Spaniards continued to push in the nine minutes of injury time, but the goal would not fall. And so Manchester City will face Real Madrid in the semi-final of the million-dollar ball.