Padlocked, but intense and fun to watch. This is how to sum up in a few words the quarter-final return of the Champions League which took place, Wednesday, April 13, at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium between Atlético de Madrid and Manchester City (0-0). Winners in the first leg (1-0), the Cityzens validated their place in the last four of the C1 thanks to this draw, even if the debates were rebalanced during this return leg. But Atlético, whose pugnacity was not enough tonight, woke up too late in this double confrontation.
His hopes of snagging extra time flew away after twelve minutes of additional time, when Ederson, already heroic four minutes earlier (90 + 8th), repelled Angel Correa’s last chance attempt (90 + 12th). The electric Wanda Metropolitano was experiencing yet another thrill, and the last moments of his team in the Champions League, reduced to ten after the logical expulsion of Felipe (90th).
In the first leg, the Colchoneros had not existed, suffered and ended up conceding a logical goal scored by Kevin de Bruyne. Atlético coach Diego Simeone announced at a press conference on Tuesday that his team was not going “to deviate a lot from what she usually does” for this return match. She still showed a lot more offensive inclinations and the debates were clearly rebalanced compared to last Tuesday.
After not having fired once in the first leg, Atlético had to wait half an hour more and Geoffrey Kondogbia’s distant attempt to do so (35th). Determined and carried by their supporters, the Colchoneros put on the intensity, embarrassed the Cityzens thanks to all-terrain pressing and tried everything to score this goal after which they ran a lot during this return match.
In an exercise they do not know – namely living the siege of their defense – the Cityzens held on perfectly and knew how to contain the Spanish fury, while playing mischief to grab a few precious seconds at the end of the match. Discreet, Antoine Griezmann believed to deliver his supporters but his half-volley passed right next to Ederson’s goals (57th). In the last minutes, John Stones replaced his goalkeeper to deflect a strike from Correa (87th) for a corner.
9 – @ManCity‘s Pep Guardiola has reached his ninth @ChampionsLeague semi-final, the most of any manager in the history of the competition (four with Barcelona, three with Bayern Munich, two with City). Unique. pic.twitter.com/wrrqhd71Qc
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 13, 2022
This double confrontation will leave the impression that Atlético seemed far from the level of Manchester City but that it could have hindered the English team more by being more positive in the game in the first leg. At this level of competition, the game plan of annihilating opposing intentions put in place by Simeone had enough to work, but with difficulty against a Manchester City team sure of its fact.
Guardiola’s players reach the Champions League semi-finals for the second year in a row. Last season, Manchester City lost in the final against Chelsea (0-1). This time, the Cityzens could face Villarreal or Liverpool at the Stade de France on May 28, to clinch the very first Champions League in the club’s history. But for that, we will first have to get rid of Real Madrid in the semi-finals.