It was intense, suffocating, full-blooded – exactly as announced – and exploded in the 89th minute with a mass brawl between the players of Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, including many reserves.
The spark came when Atletico defender Felipe, who already had a yellow card to clear Phil Foden in the beginning, slid into it to the sideline before looking to kick him. After Foden fell, all hell broke loose, another Atletico defender, Stefan Savic, tried to get him back on his feet and was kicked out by Alexander Zinchenko, who was an unused City reserve as everyone gathered.
There would be much more. When the warring parties were finally separated, Felipe received a second yellow card and Savic the first, probably because of the quarrel with Foden and not because of the header against Rahim Stirling, another City deputy who seems to have been missed.
The break-up time stretched to 13 minutes – there will be seven cards in that period alone – and there was such an almost equalizing goal for Atletico, the reserve, Angel Correa, extended Ederson with a low shot at the last minute.
The stadium was in a rage, minds were lost, and after a full-time whistle, there would be a battle in the tunnel between Savic, a former City player, and Jack Grillish, another unused City reserve, leading to a squad of police raiders. Grilish had called Savik the word C during the melee, which led Savich to grab him by the hair.
The bandaged Phil Foden fights with Marcos Lorente for the ball. Photo: Bagu Blanco / Pressinphoto / Shutterstock
And yet, when morals cooled and some common sense returned, City had what they wanted – a place in the Champions League semi-finals where they will face Real Madrid, Chelsea’s conqueror on the other side of the city on Tuesday night. , which was a different kind of high-octane classic.
From the city’s point of view, it was all about their endurance, showing cojones – as the locals would say – and there was a special joy in how they stuck together during the second half pressure cooker to come up with a hard-earned clean sheet .
It was hard to remember that Pep Guardiola’s strikers were pressed into their own half for so long, but that’s exactly what happened for almost the entire second half, Ilkay Gundogan’s shot in the 97th minute, which was superbly saved by Jan Oblak, who not withstand.
City prevailed in the first half, but it was a different story after the interval, Atletico – driven by a piercing and guerrilla mob – suffocated them, forced them to return, asking awkward questions. From the restart, they pushed high, bringing aggression and had numerous vibrations in front of the door, which the fans of the hosts managed to keep extremely quickly. Renan Lodi’s cross was too far ahead of the dangerous Joao Felix, the striker headed from the center of Marcos Lorente and Antoine Griezmann was a hair’s breadth away from the goal.
City struggled to get on the field. Atletico’s game plan had worked, they had their opponents exactly where they wanted them – on their hind legs, the pulse was racing. Moments from the heart in the mouth of the traveling support of the City kept coming. Atletico’s reserve, Rodrigo De Paul, turned to the side, Korea called for a penalty against a combination of Joao Cancello and Rodri, and in the 87th minute another substitution, Matheus Cunha, received a shot blocked by John Stones.
Diego Simeone introduced Luis Suarez from the bench and it looked like he would find an equalizer. And yet Korea was the one closest to death, Ederson saved, and City exhaled.
It was an epic race in its own way, partly for the wrong reasons, with the dark arts always present. And let’s not pretend City didn’t hire them. With Fernandinho in the 79th minute to watch things, the City players fell and stayed down, sometimes writhing.
Foden was a symbol of their challenge. Felipe had left him dizzy and bloodied after jumping into it in the 12th minute air challenge, destroying him with a fierce barge in the upper body. But Foden, who appeared with a bandage wrapped around his head, refused to be intimidated. Remarkably, Felipe avoided a reservation for this, but soon received his first reservation to get into the back of Kevin De Bruyne. The City midfielder would eventually limp.
Guardiola wanted his players to look for the ball, to enjoy it, and they got on their front foot as the first half continued, with Atletico’s initial surge weakening. City were close to an early corner, the Stones shot high and they created a great chance in the opening period in the 30th minute.
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Riyad Marez released Kyle Walker, who centered low, and when Foden put the ball away, Gundogan had the opportunity to shoot close. He hit the crossbar and his header was blocked by Felipe.
Atletico failed to shoot in the first game and received only one blow in the first half here – a shot by Jeffrey Kondogbia, which was routine for Ederson. The second period was everything else.
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