Manchester City started a goalless draw on their visit to Atlético de Madrid that allowed them, thanks to their 1-0 win in the first leg a week ago, to qualify for the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.
The leader of the Premier League will qualify for the final of the continental competition against Real Madrid, who eliminated Chelsea on Tuesday.
After 180 minutes of an inconspicuous tie and a very tight game, the pass ended up being decided by a single goal, the one scored by the Belgian Kevin de Bruyne at the Etihad last week.
Atlético de Madrid ended up playing with 10 due to the expulsion, due to a double yellow card, of the Brazilian central defender Felipe, for an action on Phil Foden (90+1).
Classification allows Pep Guardiola to continue opting to win the top European club competition, something he hasn’t achieved since he coached Barcelona (2009 and 2011).
The Catalan coach, however, becomes the one who has reached the semi-finals the most times, on nine occasions, one more than Carlo Ancelotti and José Mourinho.
The reverse situation for a Diego Simeone who will continue another season without giving Atlético the only trophy that the Madrid team can resist.
This time they will not even have the option of playing in the final, as happened in 2014 and 2016, both times with a defeat against Real Madrid.
The last minutes, in which the players of both teams and even the members of the benches dedicated themselves more to facing each other, questioning each other and saying everything, was a sign of mattress frustration.
– From less to more –
Despite the criticism received for Diego Simeone’s ultra-defensive approach in the first leg (where Atlético did not shoot once at the rival goal), the Argentine coach was not much braver in his stadium either, especially in the first half, where the The only chance of danger was for City, with a shot at the post by German Ilkay Gündogan (30).
After all, Simeone had achieved what he wanted since the draw matched his team against City: to reach the second half of the second leg with the tie open (one goal away from causing extra time).
As the game approached the end, Atlético advanced lines and with the entrance of all its forwards (Correa, Suárez, Mateus Cunha, as well as Rodrigo de Paul) it was close to taking the outcome to extra time.
Griezmann (57), De Paul (70) and Matheus Cunha (86) were able to score, but a massive brawl after the entry that meant Cunha’s expulsion broke the rhythm of an ‘Atleti’, who still had one last chance from Correa ( 90+12) before the final whistle.
