
In the first leg, 2021 finalists Manchester City had to deal with Atlético’s stout defense. Parking the bus, Pep Guardiola’s men had a hard time breaking through but City’s captain, Kevin De Bruyne, slotted home a pass from wonder-kid substitute, Phil Foden, into the bottom left corner. They would now have to hold on to their lead in Madrid in the next leg.
Pep made two changes, bringing back the suspended Kyle Walker and starting Foden instead of Sterling. City played their classic 4-3-3.
1st leg Starting XI: Ederson, Cancelo, Ake, Stones, Laporte, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Sterling, Mahrez
2nd leg Starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Gundogan (c), Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden
Atlético manager, Diego Simeone, made two changes, bringing on the winger Lemar instead of Vrsaljko for a more attacking presence in the midfield. He also started youngster João Felix up top with Griezmann. The La Liga champions would need to score two goals and keep a clean sheet to advance against the Premier League champions. Atlético played a 5-4-1.
1st leg Starting XI: Oblak, Vrsaljko, Savic, Felipe, Mandava, Lodi dos Santos, Llorente, Kondogbia, Koke, Griezmann, Sequiera
2nd leg Starting XI: Oblak, Llorente, Savic, Felipe, Reinildo, Lodi dos Santos, Koke, Kondogbia, Lemar, João Félix, Griezmann
Immediately off kick-off, Atlético fell back into their 5-5 block defense, only allowing shots from far outside the box. 8 minutes in, City captain Gundogan let loose a right-footed curler that barely missed the bottom right corner.
For the first 25 minutes, the ball was kept in Atlético’s defensive third with City on the attack. The first booking of the match was issued in the 24th minute to Felipe for a brash tackle against De Bruyne.
Four minutes later, Mahrez played a dangerous through ball in for the underlapping Walker who received it on the goal line. Walker whipped in a ground cross to the back post runner, Foden. The ball comes to Gundogan’s feet, and he hits the post. After a flurry of shots, the ball is cleared by Atlético.

City continued to put the attacking pressure on Atlético the whole first half. Atlético managed one shot off target the whole 45 minutes by Kondogbia, forcing an easy save out of Ederson.
Simeone sought to attack more in the second half, and his team listened. A João Felix header just missed the target early on in the second half.
The third chance of the game came from Griezmann in the 57th minute as he ripped a left-footed volley from outside the box. João Felix set the Frenchman up for the shot that barely misses left.

In the 65th minute, Sterling came on for the first leg goal scorer, Kevin de Bruyne.
The 69th minute saw Atlético’s first three substitutions of the game. Yannick Carrasco came on for Griezmann, de Paul for Lodi dos Santos, and finally Correa for Koke.
A hard challenge a minute later from dos Santos on Kyle Walker left the England international hobbling on the field. Eventually, he walked off the field and was replaced by Nathan Ake in the 71st minute but not before de Paul ripped a shot from outside the box, missing right.
Atlético continued to grow in energy, finding more and more room to attack. City were on the back foot as the red and white continued to whip in crosses.
Fernandinho came on for Bernardo in the 79th minute and made his presence known, forcing Marcus Llorente to take out his legs after Fernandinho combined with Foden on a wall pass. Strikers Luis Suarez and Matheus Cunha came on for Lemar and João Felix, respectively, in the 82nd minute.
Atlético continued to attack as it seemed like City were turned off. A ball was served in by Atlético’s defense into the box where Correa set it for Cunha. Cunha’s rocket was blocked magnificently by John Stones to produce a corner. The corner was dangerous as well. Ederson got off his line, but Atlético couldn’t put the ball in the open net.
Pent-up frustration from Atlético was released on Foden by Felipe. Felipe slide tackled Foden then kicked him again after the play, forcing the referee to give Felipe a yellow card, his second of the game. Felipe was sent off. Savic saw Foden trying to roll on the field and dashed over to keep him on the sideline. Foden’s teammate Oleksander Zinchenko came to his defense and diffused the situation, but not before Savic was issued a yellow card.
The fight created nine minutes of stoppage time. Mahrez was also given a yellow card for time wasting on the free kick given for Felipe’s foul.
City finally woke up at the end of the game as Sterling slipped Gundogan in on goal. The German’s shot was saved by Jan Oblak to keep them in the game. More frustration was vented this time by Foden as he shoved de Paul in the 96th minute.
A reckless tackle by Cancelo on the edge of the box earned him a yellow card in the 97th minute and a dangerous opportunity for Atlético Madrid. De Paul whipped in a cross right to the goal line. Three Atlético attackers were free in the box but none could connect with the cross before Ederson valiantly punched it away.
Simeone was issued a yellow card for arguing with the ref in the 100th minute. Atlético had one last chance to tie the game up. Fernandinho accidentally flicked on a cross from half-field and Correa ended up with the ball after countless challenges by City. His low shot was saved by Ederson to end the game.
Manchester City advanced to the Semi-finals for the third time in their history. They will face Real Madrid tomorrow. Cancelo’s yellow card will result in him missing this match. Diego Simeone’s stronger side put up a fight but they couldn’t find that finishing piece they so desperately needed to win.
Check in tomorrow for Quarter Finals 3 and 4.
Here are the stats:
24’ Yellow Card – Felipe
65’ Substitution – Sterling for De Bruyne
69’ Substitution – De Paul for Koke
69’ Substitution – Carrasco for Griezmann
70’ Substitution – Correa for Lodi dos Santos
73’ Substitution – Aké for Walker
79’ Substitution – Fernandinho for Bernardo Silva
80’ Yellow Card – Llorente
82’ Substitution – Cunha for João Félix
82’ Substitution – Suárez for Lemar
85’ Yellow Card – Rodrigo
90+1’ Yellow Card – Aké
90+1’ Yellow Card – Savic
90+1’ Yellow Card/Red Card – Felipe
90+4’ Yellow Card – Mahrez
90+6’ Yellow Card – Foden
90+7’ Yellow Card – Cancelo
90+10’ Yellow Card – Diego Simeone
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