Atletico Madrid-Manchester City 0-0, the English in the semi-finals of Champions- Corriere.it

From Prehistoric times to the court of the Kings of Europe, passing through the Far West saloon. The time machine driven by Pep Guardiola he comes out of the double challenge against Atletico del Cholo Simeone with scratched fenders and dented doors also for a mega brawl in the delusional final (in front of the locker rooms the police intervene to calm everyone), but with the engine still at full speed and the desire to project oneself into the future: to see if the first Champions League in the history of Manchester City can become reality.

After the first leg victory, decided by an invention by Foden and a goal by De Bruyne, the only ray of light of a game shrouded in the fog of Spanish tactics, the Citizens silence the deafening Metropolitano with a draw that becomes pure suffering in the ‘last half hour, even if the clearest scoring opportunity remains with them: in the half hour of the first half Gundogan hits the post from a few paces.

Fifteen kilometers from here, at the Bernabeu, the English champions after their first leg at Etihad will face Real Madrid in the second leg, as in 2016: the kings of 13 Champions against the upstart of the City led by the ancient Catalan enemy who has not regained the trophy since 2011 and last year threw the first final in the history of the club against Chelsea; Emirati Sheikh Mansour against the old builder Florentino Perez, who wants the Super League. Who passes by, will see con the winner of Liverpool-Villarreal, given that the Reds have respected the prediction and beat Benfica. It will therefore be a double challenge between Spain and England to determine who will go to Paris on May 28, to play for a Cup that has already given entertainment and emotions in an industrial dose so far.

Except in these 180 minutes. The tensions of the eve, with the sentence on prehistoric football by Simeone hissed by Guardiola and the reply of Cholo (I have always respected my colleagues), to which yesterday the delusional analogy proposed by the English writer John Carlin between the troops of Atletico was added and the narcos of Sinaloa, on balance, remain one of the most electrifying things of a double confrontation in which the colchoneros have tried to anesthetize the English game, without quite succeeding. To then attack at the end in an almost hysterical way.

After the match-manifesto of the first leg, without Spanish shots in the mirror of others, the plot of the return similar only for 45 ‘.

It starts with the whistles to the English who kneel for Black Lives Matter. Simeone plays the Lemar card to give quicker restarts and don’t make Joao Felix, the 120 million magic boy sad. Pushed by the sixty thousand of the Metropolitano, Atletico rises in the second half with the changes, but among the arts masterfully handled by the City of the other baby phenomenon Foden there is also the defense, made up of ball possession, high line and synchronized movements. Griezmann tries the left from a knockout, but the ball ends up just outside. The English beat accelerates, the dribble shrinks, these primitive red and white dresses begin to scare when they come out of the cave en masse.

De Paul, Suarez, Correa, Cunha and Carrasco and Correa again try (decisive Ederson at the last dive). Gundogan is close too. And between a riot and the other, between the ironic applause of Simeone and 12 minutes of recovery, Gundogan also comes close. The mystic Guardiola will challenge the mystique of the Bernabeu. Like him, a real derby.

In the other quarter Liverpool drew 3-3 with Benfica and went 3-1 in the first leg. The Reds will face Villarreal who beat Bayern Munich.

The formations

These are the official formations of Atletico Madrid-Manchester Citysecond leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League (1-0 victory in the first leg) which will be played at 9 pm (live on Amazon Prime only):

Atletico Madrid (3-5-2): Oblak; Savic, Felipe, Reinildo Mandava; Lemar, Marcos Llorente, Koke, Kondogbia, Renan Lodi; Joo Flix, Griezmann. Coach: Simeone.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden. Coach: Guardiola.
Referee: Siebert (Germany).

The pre-race

The pre-race started with good news for theAtletico Madrid: the TAS has accepted the appeal of the Spaniards and, considering the serious repercussions on local security, has reopened the Wanda Metropolitano to 100%. The colchoneros had turned to the Arbitral Tribunal for Sports after Uefa had decided to sanction the discriminatory conduct of colchoneros fans at Etihad with the closure of a sector of the Wanda Metropolitano up to 5,000 seats on Monday. Atletico therefore turned to Tas and obtained a suspension as the tickets had all already been sold. Tas, as mentioned, accepted the appeal.

Audience welcomed

The appeal won reassures the Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeon, who explains: We know we are facing a team that plays very well, that has high rhythms, very fast transitions and that manages to extricate itself better in small spaces. We have the enthusiasm, we know that alone is not enough, we must bring the game to our side, directing it where we can make a difference, words are not much use, we need to do the facts and we will try to do them from the beginning of the game. The Cholo will not betray its football. We will not change our strategy too much, we must try to do better than in the first leg and take advantage of the opportunities we will be able to create. We need a great game from everyone, we have great motivations and anything can happen.

The statements

Obviously the opposing coach is of a completely different opinion Pep Guardiola (who was taken by surprise by the announcement of Fernandinho that he will leave City at the end of the season did not want to comment on the fact): The intention is to win the game. The match will be different from the first leg because Atletico Madrid play at home and build momentum with their game, the passion of their fans and the history that they bring with them. There will be times when they will be aggressive and create problems but we must play our game as we have done in recent years. The message will be no different from what we have always done. All the things we have prepared we must put them on the pitch in the best possible way. I trust the players a lot. I know how this world works. Things change up and down, positive and negative. But let’s go there to win the game. This is what we need to do, he continued.