Kevin De Bruyne’s post-match thoughts
“It was a very difficult match. They played defensively and are strong. They played almost 5-5-0 and it is very difficult to find spaces. I would recommend anyone who says something about our performance to try it out on the training pitch.
“In these conditions we played well. You have to be calm and patient, don’t give up on anything and keep trying to find spaces. You will lose balls because they are very compact, but we had two chances in the second half and we managed to take one. I ran and Phil found me perfect. I needed to stay calm and fortunately I did.
“[On the aggro in the last 10 minutes] It’s the way they play. It’s their style and there’s no point in trying to fight them because that’s not our way. We handled it well.”
Those last 10 minutes were a bit weirdAtlético de Madrid’s primary focus seemed to be trying to kick Jack Grealish as often and as hard as possible. Overall, it’s a reasonable outcome for both sides, kicking a tie down the road.
City had to work hard to break down Atletico’s impressive defence. In the end substitute Phil Foden opened the open game with two or three exceptional passes, the first of which created the winning goal for Kevin De Bruyne.
Full-time: Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid
peep peep peep peep!
90 + 2 minutes Now Vralsjko is booked for a blunder on Grealish. Cunha then drops off the ball, and Ederson is booked for kicking the ball away. It was all a little strange, Ederson did nothing wrong. Vrsaljko is still skating Grealish.
All Man City need is Phil Foden on the pitch
80 seconds after he came, the defense of Atletico opens to form Kevin De Bruyne!
Big goal in this tie…#UCL pic.twitter.com/rRIXIah2EI
Football on BT Sport (btsportfootball) April 5 2022
90 + 1 min Two minutes of extra time.
90 minutes Atletico have been paving Grealish all over the park since he came along. Correa misses again and misses, so Vrsaljko purposely stops him instead – and misjudges Grealish!
88 minutes “Sometimes watching Foden as the False Nine is a crime,” says Yash Gupta. “The right side is his best position, as he is free to join the front line or go deeper. This brings his great passing into the match.”
I agree with you, although I don’t think you should consider yourself a criminal just for watching a football match.
87 minutes Foden has been great since he came on as a replacement. He found De Bruyne to the right of the area with an infamous off-foot pass. De Bruyne’s cut was cleared and Foden, backing the play, inadvertently stopped a shot by De Bruyne.
86 minutes De Bruyne rolls off 20 yards. In a double match, the difference between 1-0 and 2-0 is huge, at least one goal.
85 minutes Gabriel Jesus is reserved, I think it’s opposition, which means he will miss the return match.
83 minutes Correa was booked for having the ball hoof in Grealish’s face when he was on the ground. He threatens to get off the ground, as Guardiola pulls Grealish off the field and out of trouble. This is very similar to the Atlético de Madrid we know and love.
81 minutes: Atletico substitution Thomas Lemar replaces Joao Felix, who spent most of the night playing as a second left-back.
80 min: City Chance! De Bruyne’s low shot from 15 yards was kicked by Savic into the six-yard box. The opportunity came after a stunning slalom from Foden, who beat Kondogbia and Reinildo near the sideline. His cut was blocked and then Bernardo skipped De Bruyne, who didn’t communicate cleanly as usual.
79 minutes Vrsaljko’s cross from the right was misconceived by Konya, who jumped in front of Stones. It wasn’t easy to take a ball because it bounced right in front of him. But if he did, he would have been in contact with Ederson.
77 minutes Kondogbia earns a free kick just after the halfway line, allowing Atlético to throw their defenses forward. That’s not a great rendition, however, it turns out for Porte.
75 minutes De Bruyne is a bit lucky to escape the yellow card for an overzealous foul on Matheus Cunha. He will miss the return match if booked.
74 minutes Atletico would have scored this result before the match. They’ll take it now too, but after defending well they’ll get frustrated with the goal. It looked as if Felipe, who had been perfect all night, was a little stuck in his heels. Either way, it was the first time all night that City were able to play through the eye of a needle.
72 minutes Those touches before goal were Foden’s first in the match.
It was an expertly scored goal from Kevin De Bruyne. Rodry found Foden in a small space, and I mean 25 yards off the goal. He ran into defense and stabbed a clever pass through De Bruyne, who walked away from the two-footed Felipe and fired decisively into the far corner.
The goal! Man City 1-0 Atletico (De Bruyne 70)
Substitute Phil Foden made a goal for Kevin De Bruyne!
70 minutes City’s front three are now Grealish on the left, Foden on the right and Gabriel Jesus in the middle.
69 minutes Rodrigo de Paul was reserved to settle the early Grealish Gates. He is not one of the many Atlético players to have received a yellow card, or rather he was not.
69 minutes: Triple city change Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus replace Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan.
68 minutes Bernardo’s cross was shown from 14 yards by Mahrez. We saw the re-appeal of a penalty kick and I think the referee was right. The plunge may not have been by sterling but it wasn’t a mistake.
67 minutes City ask for a penalty again when Sterling leaves after a light shoulder charge from Reinildo. My first impression was that Sterling retracted, knowing he wouldn’t hit De Bruyne’s through pass, but we haven’t seen a replay yet.
66 minutes Pip waves an iPad under Phil Foden’s nose, indicating that he’s about to come, too.
65 minutes “At the risk of looking like I’m the type to join Wembley, isn’t that the kind of game Grealish signed up for?” idal hill says. “I thought the idea was to use it as a random movement generator against profound defenses.”
He is about to come.
64 min: City Chance! Mahrez’s deep wing angle to the net’s surface by Laporte. It was City’s best chance so far, although he was jumping back so it was difficult to keep his header.
60 minutes: T.Double change for Atlético. Rodrigo de Paul, Angel Correa and Matthews Cunha replace Cook, Antoine Griezmann and Marcos Llorente.
59 minutes Cancelo’s cross was shown with his head behind Vrsaljko. De Bruyne’s corner kick headed Felipe, but Atletico’s defense became more difficult than it was in the first half.
57 minutes The city began to threaten. De Bruyne slides a clever free kick to Sterling to the left of the penalty area, pulling a cross for the first time off the far post. He was literally caught in the land of two men there.
57 minutes There was a third goal in Lisbon, not a word lie.
55 min: Good save from Oblak! Oblak saved the low free kick taken by De Bruyne to his left. The ball drips from his fist in front of the goal, and he reacts superbly to hit it clearly while lying on the ground. There were two City players waiting to gobble the loose ball.
54 minutes City hit a short free kick which leads to Mahrez being fouled again, this time on the edge of D. That was an original way to gain five yards.
53 minutes Renaldo was penalized for a fine tackle on Mahrez 28 yards from the goal. The free kick is a bit to the right of the center, covered by Mahrez and De Bruyne…
51 minutes Llorente fires hard at Ederson again – but this time he’s on his side. It was a good break from Atletico, as Griezmann slipped a corner to Llorente in the area. He had to shoot on the run from a tight corner, but it was still a reasonable opportunity. It is the first shot on goal in the match.
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