Manchester City have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League, in which Pep Guardiola’s team can compete against Real Madrid. Kevin de Bruyne’s goal last week proved decisive, but Atlético Madrid made it another hot evening in a seething Wanda Metropolitano.
After 125 minutes of football against City (after a duel without a single chance last week), Atlético Madrid only got a shot at the goal of keeper Ederson, but in the second half the team of coach Diego Simeone still came loose. However, chances for João Félix, Antoine Griezmann and substitute Rodrigo De Paul did not yield any goals. The experienced goal thief Luis Suárez, who has had a difficult season with the Spanish champions, was also unable to make the difference in the final phase.
City couldn’t do much offensively tonight, although captain Ilkay Gundogan still hit the post in the first half. Kevin de Bruyne’s swipe, last week in the 70th minute, proved decisive in this confrontation between the champions of England and Spain, but above all a confrontation between two different styles.
The odds ratio was 15-0 last week (2-0 on goal), but tonight was much more balanced with 14-10 (3-1 on goal). City still had 70 percent of the ball in the first half, but Atlético Madrid were almost constantly in attack in the second half. The best chance eventually came for Matheus Cunha, another substitute for the home side, but City defender John Stones threw himself in front of the ball and prevented Atlético from dragging out another extension.
In the extra time, which in the end lasted no less than thirteen minutes, the flames went completely into the pan. Felipe received his second yellow card after his second hard foul on Phil Foden, after which Stefan Savic was also booked for when he started the disturbance by trying to lift the lying Foden. It was then no longer quiet in the last fifteen minutes of the match and the disturbance even continued in the players tunnel of the stadium, where Savic once again sought the confrontation with City substitute Jack Grealish.
Despite the elimination in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the players of Atlético Madrid received a standing ovation from the 68,000 blood-fanatic spectators in Wanda Metropolitano.
Manchester City will return to Madrid in three weeks, then for the return against Real Madrid. The first leg is in two weeks at the Etihad Stadium. The other semi-final is also an Anglo-Spanish encounter, between Liverpool and Villarreal. The final will be played on Saturday 28 May at the Stade de France in Paris.
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