ATL. MADRID 0-0 MANCHESTER CITY; MAN. CITY MOVES ON TO THE CAHMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL AFTER A WONDERFUL BATTLE AT WANDA METROPOLITANO.
Manchester City secured their place in back-to-back UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the first time in history, with a fiery 0-0 draw enough to set up a last-four date with Real Madrid courtesy of their 1-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium last week.
A hostile Wanda Metropolitano awaited Manchester City as they took their slender one-goal advantage to Madrid knowing they would not only be squaring off against 11 world-class individuals, but also 60,000 expectant Atlético supporters. Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere was electric, but City weren’t intimidated and ought to have doubled their advantage when John Stones wriggled free from a corner, but his header crept over the crossbar. Despite Atlético’s obvious need for a goal, it was City who kept their foot on the gas in search of wrapping up the tie as İlkay Gündoğan came within a lick of paint of doing so, but his effort cannoned back off the post and was scrambled to safety.
After offering precious little by way of attacking intent in the first half, Atlético must’ve had a real grilling from Diego Simeone at HT as they emerged for the second half with renewed optimism. Antoine Griezmann came within a hair’s width of levelling the tie, but his volley was always drifting wayward, though Ederson’s frantic dive across his goal proved he was worried. Simeone threw his first roll of the dice with a triple substitution 20 minutes from time and one of those replacements had an almost instant impact, but Rodrigo De Paul’s effort curled well wide of the post.
Having mustered few shots on target across two legs of football, some might say Atlético got their just deserts, but that perhaps doesn’t tell the full story of the tie, with Atlético closing out the tie with plenty of heart. Atlético lost their heads late on in a mass brawl in an act of desperation, which culminated in Felipe receiving a second yellow card. A draw does prolong City’s poor record on Spanish soil to just three wins in their last 12 away games, but City players and fans alike won’t care – it was their night and Real Madrid await in the semi-finals.
