Welcome to Sportstar's highlights of the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 quarterfinal clash between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid being played at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England.
This was Neeladri Bhattacharjee bringing you the pre-match buildup minute-by-minute updates of this high-voltage clash. Thanks fir tuning in tonight and take very good care of yourselves.
Match Report:
Follow the other Champions League fixture here: Benfica vs Liverpool Highlights
Full Time
Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid
89' Foul! Grealish goes down again after a strong tackle by Vrsjalko as City gets possession back
87' Chance! Foden gives a key pass from the right to De Bruyne, who crosses to the centre for Jesus, but Rodrigo intercepts the pass finally to end that attack
84' Yellow Card! Grealish goes to the ground after a foul and Correa kicks the ball on his face as an infuriated Guardiola charges towards the Spaniard. Correa gets into the book
80' City enjoying possession in Atletico's half, with De Bruyne the architect of the smooth passes.
Foden makes a run along the right, cuts into the box and passes to De Bruyne. De Bruyne shoots which is blocked by Savic and the ball lands to Silva, whose shot finally goes put of play
78' Felix run in along the left, crosses into the box, which is headed away by Nathan Ake. Atletico is now pressing high, chasing the attackers left, right and centre.
74' Etihad has the fans on their feet as the lead has finally arrived for the home team, with substitutions that changes the whole ball game in a matter of minutes
70' GOOOAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!! De Bruyne makes a run off a Foden pass and buries the ball in the net to put City in front
Man City 1-0 Atletico Madrid
68' Triple Substitution for City! In: Grealish, Foden, Jesus Out: Sterling, Mahrez, Gundogan
67' De Bruyne delivers the ball for Steling in the penalty box and the England winger goes down as Etihad erupts in appeals for a penalty.
No penalty given whatsoever! The whole stadium is echoing of boos and whistles at the moment.
65' Kondogbia crosses the ball into City's box as Renan Lodu somehow gets to the ball, but the City defence keeps the attacl at bay for the moment with tight marking
64' Corner Kick for Manchester City! Laporte meets the cross with his head, but the ball is just a bit high as it lands on top of the te
60' Triple Substitution for Atletico Madrid! Out: Llorente, Griezmann and Koke , In: Cunha, Correa, Rodrigo de Paul
57' Chance! Sterling gets the ball off De Bruyne's free kick this time, but his cross faikls to find a receiver as the abll gors out for a goal kick
55' Free Kick! Kevin De Bruyne takes the free kick for Manchester City in front of the box -- shoots on target and Oblak just manages to save it and then readjusts and kicks the ball away
51' Poor Shot! Atletico attacks on the break, with Griezmann pasisng it to Llorente, but the final shot lands in the gloves of Ederson. No force in it at all
50' De Bruyne gets the ball at the edge of the box, tries to cross, but gets a croner kick after a deflection
46' Chance! Llorente gets the ball in the final third and tries to shoot for goal. However, after an off target shot, he realises the flag has been raised. Off Side!
Second Half Begins!
Half-Time
Manchester City 0-0 Atletico Madrid
45' It is nine players at the back for Simeone's side even at t he brink of half-time and City gets a free kick, which is taken wuicky and De Bruyne makes a run, but the ball is cleared by Felipe
43' Bernardo Silva steals the ball off Atletico Madrid, but runs into a wall of white-and-red and that's that of that particular attack
40' No Penalty again! De Bruyne makes a run into the penalty box and runs into Felipe as the Belgian appeals for a spot kick. The referee is not interested
37' Off Side! Llorente gets the ball along the right, trying to attack on teh break, but is caught in the offside trap
34' Foul! Felix gets the ball and turns to make a forward run only to see De Bryne bring him down and the referee lets the City Player off with a verbal warning
33' Llorente, playing a more central role tries to carry the ball into the final third, but Ake gets to the ball and earns a foul
31' Chance! De Bruyne delivers a long ball from outside the box, but Oblak gets to it first to put that attakc to bed
29' Pep Guardiola's side has Atletico Madrid glued around the box as nine players of the 10 are back in the box at the moment
27' Manchester City distributing the play along the wings, with Sterling and Cancelo trying to penetrate the defence. Cancelo gets the ball, tries to deliver a through ball, but mispasses for a goal kick
24' Manchester City continues to attack in waves, one after the othewr, with Gundogan running in spaces behind the defenders, but Felix continues to be a danger with runs aling the left, cutting in right
18' City progresses beautifully into the Atletico box, but unlike its impression, fails to find a player in its final third.
13' No Penalty! Bernardo Silva goes down in the box after a soft challenge by Koke, but the referee does not give any penalty and points for a corner kick instead
13' Header! The corner that follows sees Laporte completely unmarked as the Spaniard's header flies off target
12' Block! De Bruyne gets the ball in the Atletico Box and shoots for goal, but Vrsjalko makes a key block
10' Chance! Mahrez makes a brilliant run along the right wing, gives a lofted throughh ball for De Bruyne, but there is too much force in the ball as it goes out of play for a goal kick
9' Save! City knocks on Atletico's door fr the first time as Cancelo shoots to see Oblak get a touch to save the ball
7' Foul! Cancelo goes down after Kondogbia fouls the Portuguese and City gets a free kick. De Bruyne takes the free kick, but Atletico Madrid's defence heads the ball away from danger
6' Atletico Madrid has knocked out Manchester United previously and this time will look to eliminate the "blue half" of Manchester in its first competitive clash against City
3' Man City has started in its typical high press, but Atletico Madrid tried to attack on the break with Felix making a run along the right. Ake makes a key block as he tracks back to stop that attack
1' Manchester City tries to cut into the Atletico Madrid box, only to be thwarted as Oblak gets the ball eventually
12:30 am: Kick Off!
11:25 pm: Starting Lineups out!
Manchester City Starting XI: Ederson, Stones, Laporte, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling
Atletico Madrid Starting XI: Jan Oblak (GK), Renan Lodi, Felipe Lius, Reinildo, Stefan Savic, Vrsaljko, Koke, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Marcos LLorente, Joao Felix, Antoine Greizmann
11:10 pm: Predicted Lineups:
Manchester City Predicted XI (4-3-3 Probable) — Ederson (GK), Joao Cancelo, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling
Atletico Madrid Predicted XI (5-3-2 Probable) — Jan Oblak (GK), Renan Lodi, Felipe Lius, Marcos LLorente, Reinildo, Stefan Savic, Koke, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Rodrigo de Paul, Joao Felix, Antoine Greizmann
MATCH PREVIEW
Diego Simeone was working in Argentina in the early years of his coaching career when he requested to attend some training sessions at Barcelona, led at the time by Pep Guardiola.
Barcelona was the pre-eminent club in world soccer, revolutionising the game between 2008-12 with its “tiki-taka” passing style favored by Guardiola and mastered by the likes of Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández.
It wasn’t for Simeone, though.
“We talked,” Guardiola has recounted, “and he told me, ‘I don’t like this. I don’t feel it.’”
Simeone, a combative and hard-working midfielder as a player, saw the beauty of soccer in a different way and would come to represent the antithesis of Guardiola and his beautiful approach.
READ |
A clash of styles soon took hold in Spain, when Simeone moved back to Europe to become coach of Atlético Madrid in 2011 — a few months after Barcelona won the Champions League for the second time and in mesmeric fashion.
More than a decade later, the two coaches remain at the top of the game, with Simeone still the embodiment of a rugged and uncompromising Atletico team and Guardiola now attempting to turn soccer into an art form at Manchester City.
City and Atletico go head-to-head in the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday — a first competitive meeting between the teams, if not the men leading them.
Yet given Guardiola and Simeone are two of the sport’s most storied current coaches, the fact that they have only come up against each other three times is as surprising as it is refreshing.
The most recent was in the Champions League in 2016, when Atletico eliminated Guardiola’s highly fancied Bayern Munich team on away goals after a pair of tightly contested legs in the semifinals. It’s one of Guardiola’s many painful exits in the Champions League since his last title, in 2011.
The only other time Guardiola and Simeone faced each other was in February 2012, a few months before Guardiola quit Barcelona. The Catalan team won 2-1 in the Spanish league.
One goal was the difference in all three games. Expect more of the same over the next week, even if City starts out as the favorite.
“It will be difficult to impose our game against them,” Guardiola said of Atletico.
He has used Atletico’s elimination of Manchester United in the last 16 as a guide for what team should expect.
“The first 15-20 minutes against United, United couldn’t breathe,” Guardiola said.
And it’s that ability to frustrate that sets Atletico apart. Even if it is achieved by using what's often perceived as unsportsmanlike tactics that have infuriated opposition coaches and players over the years.
“It is frustrating at times,” Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson said of Atletico in 2020 when his team was eliminated by the Spanish club, “but it is not going to change.”
There was a period, particularly in the 2020-21 season, when Simeone tried to turn Atletico into more of an attack-minded team, using the qualities of forwards like Luis Suarez and Joao Felix.
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When it comes to the crunch, Simeone typically returns to his more destructive and pragmatic game plan and that is likely to be on show at City's Etihad Stadium for the first leg on Tuesday.
As for Guardiola, he is wedded to his possession-based philosophy.
“Cholo’s teams will play the way he wants them to play,” Guardiola once said, referring to Simeone's nickname, "and my teams will play the way I want them to play.”
It's what makes the upcoming double-header between the current English and Spanish champions so fascinating.
( via AP )
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