Manchester City qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Atlético Madrid on Wednesday evening. After the 1-0 win in Manchester, a 0-0 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano was enough to secure a spot in the next round. In the semi-final battle, manager Pep Guardiola’s team will face Real Madrid. The Royal settled with Chelsea in two games.
Diego Simeone changed his squad one position compared to last week’s first leg. The right wing was covered by Marcos Llorente, who took over for Sime Vrsaljko. Luis Suárez again started on the bench, as the attacking duo was formed by João Félix and Antoine Griezmann. On the City side, Raheem Sterling was replaced in the forward position by Phil Foden, while Nathan Ake was replaced by Aymeric Laporte at center back. Guardiola posted Kyle Walker in right-back position.
The greatest chance of Atlético Madrid after a wonderful action by João Félix ??
However, Rodrigo De Paul shoots him a meter wide ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #ATMMCI pic.twitter.com/kDotuVVQoB— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Apr 13, 2022
Despite the fact that Atlético needed at least two goals to secure a ticket to the semi-finals within regular time, they had little to say in the first half. At the same time, just like in the first game, City had the necessary difficulty to play through the Madrid defense. After a header by John Stones over Jan Oblak’s goal in the tenth minute of play, the next serious opportunity arose twenty minutes later.
On the right side of the field, Riyad Mahrez had a very nice pass with the outside left on Walker. The right back then received the ball via Foden at Ilkay Gündogan, who saw his bet end up on the left post at the height of the penalty spot. The midfielder did not score from the rebound either. In the second half, the Madrilenians showed more signs of life. For example, João Félix nodded over from a Llorente cross ten minutes after the break and Griezmann shot just wide from the edge of the sixteen-meter area. While City took the foot further off the accelerator, Atlético increased the pressure. The next chance for los Colchoneros was created in the seventieth minute.
After a wide pass from Llorente, Rodrigo De Paul shot just wide. A few minutes later, Walker had to leave the field injured, allowing replacement Aké to make his appearance. Simeone hoped to force another breakthrough ten minutes before the end of regular time by bringing Suarez into the squad at the expense of Thomas Lemar. In the final phase, City shuddered after two huge chances for Matheus Cunha and Stefan Savic, but the spell was not broken. In the end Atlético ended with ten men: Felipe kicked after Foden and was sent off with a second yellow card. No goal was scored in the twelve minutes of injury time, which were awarded after various disturbances in the final minutes.