Guardiola’s City resists the Metropolitano and will play in the semifinals against Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City qualified for the Champions League semi-finals in an epic match, not so much for the game but for the Numantine resistance of a team that is more accustomed to offensive than defensive play. The citizen they tied in the field of the Athletic one of Madrid and asserted the victory by the minimum in the first leg to pass round (0-0, 0-1 in the global one). Real Madrid will be the next rival. The other finalist will come out of the duel between Liverpool and Villarreal.

It was a hot match, not only because of what was at stake but because of the previous controversy following statements by Guardiola about prehistory that some mistakenly interpreted as a frontal attack on mattress football. If City had dominated in the first leg and Atlético de Madrid had resisted with an ultra-defensive approach, the roles were turned in the return leg. It was Simeone who carried the weight of the game, while Guardiola’s men spent more time defending themselves than attacking.

It would not be fair to say that Atlético went above City. Rather, that the English were never comfortable on the turf, especially in the second half. It is not uncommon for a Guardiola team to only kick once between the three posts. Atletico Madrid did it three times. The last one, when it was already 12 minutes of added time, with a shot from Correa that saved Ederson in extremis.

A physical duel, with injuries citizen De Bruyne i Walker was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent’s quick free kick after 88 minutes. There was a fight and nine minutes were added. In the end it was thirteen. But Guardiola’s men, perhaps with a bit of luck, kept the goal at zero and got the ticket to the semifinals.

Liverpool, classified

In the other round, Liverpool made good predictions and eliminated Benfica (3-3, 6-3 overall). Klopp’s men, who had already won the first leg, did their homework with a goal from Konate and two from Firmino. On the Portuguese side, Conçalo Ramos, Yaremchuk and Darwin Núñez scored.