As expected, Manchester City have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. At Atlético Madrid Pep Guardiola’s team radiated anything but playful ease. In the end it got weird.
Pep Guardiola can continue to dream of his first Champions League triumph in eleven years and has reached the semi-finals with Manchester City. A difficult 0-0 draw at Atlético Madrid was enough for the English champions, coached by Guardiola, in the second leg of the quarter-finals. In the round of the last four, Manchester now face record champions Real Madrid.
Madrid coach Diego Simeone (r.) stormed onto the pitch against Manchester City in added time and discussed with referee Daniel Siebert (middle). (Source: Lee Smith/imago images)
Yellow-red card in stoppage time
A week after the 1-0 win in the first leg, however, Manchester had some problems with the Spaniards, who were strong in the tackle and who had several good chances, particularly in the second half.
With a little luck, the guests survived the tricky situations, Guardiola, who has been waiting for the title in the Champions League since 2011, followed the gripping final phase, partly cowering in his coaching zone. Atletico’s Felipe saw the yellow-red card (90 + 1).
Unlike in the first duel, Atlético tried to disrupt Manchester’s pass machine with an early start. That left quite an impression at first, but Madrid were unable to take advantage of the good start. The Spaniards forced some ball losses, but they also lacked precision when passing to the top.
Representing a very intense game: City’s Ilkay Gündogan (right) and Madrid’s Marcos Llorente give nothing in the fight for the ball. (Source: Reuters / Lee Smith / imago images)
Atlético’s strong final phase
Manchester showed how it can be done quickly and without frills: At the end of a strong combination, Ilkay Gündogan (30th) hit the left post, the guests now increased the pressure, but they didn’t score the opening goal before the break either.
Atlético vehemently fought against the impending end in the second round. World champion Antoine Griezmann (57th) shot just wide from 20 meters, Rodrigo de Paul (70th) also missed from a promising position. Manchester was increasingly losing control.