Atletico Madrid vs Man City LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction as City go through
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Manchester City (agg 0-1): A ferocious contest which saw Atletico defender Felipe sent off ultimately ended goalless as City booked their place in the final four
Manchester City survived a bruising encounter with Atletico Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals after a hard-fought goalless draw in the Spanish capital.
Pep Guardiola’s side battled an intimidating atmosphere and a fired-up home side at the Wanda Metropolitano to edge a tense quarter-final courtesy of last week’s equally-draining 1-0 first-leg win.
Atletico finished with 10 men as Felipe – who escaped a booking for a terrible challenge on Phil Foden in the first half – was sent off as home frustrations boiled over in the closing stages.
City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan went close to scoring when he hit the post in the first half but the visitors had to dig deep late on. Atletico upped the tempo in the closing stages and there were some moments of alarm, not least when Antoine Griezmann shot narrowly wide and Angel Correa tested Ederson in stoppage time.
Awaiting Man City are Real Madrid who knocked out Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate after a fantastic match at the Santiago Bernabeu last night.
All the action as it happened from Atletico vs Man City in the Champions League quarter-finals:
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
In his pre-match press conference ahead of tonight’s match, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone hit back at critics of his side’s defensive display against Manchester City in the first leg last week.
The Spanish champions failed to record a single shot at the Etihad Stadium, but Simeone was not happy with those who had bad words to say about his style of play.
He said: “I’ve been a coach since 2005-06 and I’ve never talked down to a colleague of mine or talked badly. I always try to get in the other coaches’ shoes and there’s different ways of expressing what you think and what you believe in every game.
“When you don’t show appreciation for a colleague, I don’t really share that, but there are opinions of every journalist, every ex-player and people who haven’t played the game for a while, and they want to say a different thing.
“Like my dad said, ‘The fish dies by the mouth’. It’s a saying. Talk is cheap, talk is free and everybody can talk. We all have our opinions but I don’t talk badly of colleagues. I always respect my fellow coaches.”
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
Will we get as eventful a night this evening as we were treated to 24 hours ago?
Real Madrid finally saw off Chelsea after extra time with a 5-4 victory on aggregate. Karim Benzema was the hero once again for the Spanish giants as they came from 3-0 down to lose 3-2 on the night and move into the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Villarreal stunned Bayern Munich by drawing 1-1 in Germany as they secured a 2-1 aggregate win.
More of that drama tonight, please.
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
And some team news for Atletico.
The home side will welcome back Yannick Carrasco back to the fold after suspension kept him out of the first-leg defeat.
Atlético boss Diego Simeone remains without key defender Jose Gimenez who is ruled out with a calf issue.
Joao Felix is expected to return to the starting 11 after being benched for the 1-0 defeat to Mallorca on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
Some early Man City team news to bring you.
Manchester City travel to Spain without Gabriel Jesus, who is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Pep Guardiola will also be without defender Ruben Dias who is still missing with a hamstring problem and teenager Cole Palmer won’t be ready to return from an ankle injury.
Kyle Walker will hope to come back into the European starting line-up after serving his European ban.
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Phil Foden came off the bench in the previous leg to set up Kevin De Bruyne’s winner and give City a slender one-goal advantage going into tonight’s game at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s men are on course for a potential treble-winning season as they remain top of the Premier League after a 2-2 draw with rivals Liverpool last Sunday. They can progress into the Champions League semi-finals with victory over Atletico tonight and will face Liverpool again in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Atlético Madrid’s defence of their La Liga title isn’t going as well as they’d hoped. They are fourth in the league and trail leaders Real Madrid by 15-points. Diego Simeone’s men will aim to overturn their one-goal deficit against City this evening and if they are successful in knocking Guardiola’s men out of the competition they’ll then face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
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