UCL – Manchester City vs Atletico
1st leg – Quarter-finals
Manchester City welcomed Atletico Madrid to the Etihad Stadium last night for the 1st leg of the UCL quarter-finals. We all expected Simeone to go all out on defence and fight with all their might for a clean sheet.
However, no one could have perhaps anticipated such a monotonous fixture. It was Man City who were with the attack all match long and the visitors were heavy on defence in an almost 5-5-0 kind of a formation.
The Citizens chased for the opening goal long and hard. They eventually succeeded with De Bruyne’s 70th-minute goal, which was the only one of the fixture.
Furthermore, Atleti were not able to produce anything in the counterattack as well, something they have been doing successfully for years now. Astonishingly, the club was not able to get a single shot.
Thus, the second leg at the Metropolitano will see the Sky-BLues head into the fixture with a one-goal advantage.
UCL – Manchester City vs Atletico: Match Summary
Full-time score: Manchester City 1-0 Atletico
Manchester City: Ederson; João Cancelo, Stones, Laporte, Aké; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gündoğan (Foden 68); Mahrez (Jesus 68), Sterling (Grealish 68), Bernardo Silva.
Atlético: Oblak; Vrsaljko, Felipe, Savić, Reinildo, Renan Lodi; Marcos Llorente (Matheus Cunha 60), Kondogbia, Koke (De Paul 60); João Félix (Lemar 81), Griezmann (Correa 60).
Scorer: 70′ De Bruyne
Post-match reactions
Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City midfielder: “The first half was tight, in the second half we had a couple of chances and it was good that we took one. I made the run and Phil [Foden] found me perfectly, I needed to stay composed and luckily I did. We have to stay composed. 1-0 is 1-0. I expect similar over there. If the game is tight they will have to attack a little bit more.”
Jan Oblak, Atlético Madrid goalkeeper: “We all knew that this would be a complicated experience. We came looking for a good result, we lost but at 1-0 down the tie is still very much all to play for. We defended really well throughout the match with the sole exception of their goal. City play using possession as a strength but we were clear headed all night, we closed space down and I don’t think it was specifically their substitutions that changed the game – just that one moment.”
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager: “We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face, but it is a good result. We had chances to score a second and third. The guys were playing well but with Gabriel [Jesus] coming inside it gave us special energy, and with Jack [Grealish] to keep the ball. The manager is so clever.”
Diego Simeone, Atlético Madrid manager: “A good performance against an extraordinary team which manages to unite lots of world class footballers into a superb unit. We wanted to defend well, squeeze spaces and hit them on the counterattack. But just as we looked like creating our best opportunities they scored.”
