We know the next four ace stickers in the Champions League. On the day after the fireworks between Real and Chelsea, the defending champions came out in mischief, and the overwhelming sense of Villarreal’s qualification against Bayern, the last two quarter-final matches were played on Wednesday night. Two festive evenings but a different atmosphere.
If Liverpool did not shudder to get rid of Benfica Lisbon (3-3 Wednesday but 6-4 in the entire two matches), the confrontation between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid fulfilled its promises and reached the height of intensity and suspense. After an amazing duel and 13 long minutes of extra time, Pep Guardiola’s players finally maintained their supremacy in the first leg. They are still looking for their first win in the Champions League.
Man City resists Atletico’s anger
Small goal! Only one goal but a huge release for incredible qualifiers. Manchester City, which has one of the most prolific attacks in the major European leagues, this time was content with the smallest differences to defeat Atlético Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. Thus, a 1-0 defeat in the first leg would cripple the Spanish champions.
After leaving control of the game to their opponents in the first half (City’s 70% possession at the break) – as in the first leg – Atletico changed their face when they came back from the locker room. Returning to Elmo, Colchoneros pressed higher, played all the shots with precision and – at last – showed themselves as dangerous. Although they only managed one shot in the first half of this duel, they chained the blows like Antoine Griezmann who saw his shot hit the Man City center (57th position). It’s the world upside down! The English, who have mastered the art of grabbing the ball from their opponents, are trapped and trapped at 30 meters and cannot develop their playing style.
The match escalated into a stadium packed with glowing 67,000 Spaniards – the club learned on the morning of the match that a partial shutdown of its stands after discriminatory behavior by some of its fans had been lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS). The exit due to an injury to Mr. Kevin De Bruyne in the 65th minute and then to defender Kyle Walker (73) destabilized the City building a little more. The match enters the fourth dimension.
At the end of the match, tension was at its height, and morale ran high among the players over a new foul from Felipe. Until the last moment, Diego Simeone’s players believed that such a feat is possible. But after 13 minutes of extra time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of this duel. Intense, exciting, wonderful. Despite the defeat, supporters accompanied the actors’ exit under songs and applause.
Liverpool in the first half without shaking
The thrill did not last long at Anfield Road. Liverpool players home. After their huge success (3-1) last week at the Benfica Lisbon stadium, Jurgen Klopp’s players confirmed their dominance on Wednesday evening, despite the draw (3-3).
The away win prompted the coach to significantly revamp his starting lineup from the first leg. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane started the match on the bench. A big – and dangerous – turn no doubt also driven by the upcoming shock, on Saturday, in the cup semi-final against rivals Man City. Insatiable, Liverpool hope to achieve a unique quartet by winning four titles.
Pregnant as in the first leg, Ibrahima Konate gave his coach reason to trust him. He is already the top scorer in Portugal, the defender opened the scoring and confirmed his team’s strong dominance with a header in the 21st minute. Benfica must then score at least 4 goals in order to qualify. The Portuguese snatched part of their handicap a few moments later by Ramos on the 31st. The start of an attacking fest but not enough to prevent Liverpool from qualifying for the last four.
Semi-finals (Go on April 26 and 27, return on May 3 and 4): Real Madrid-Manchester City; Villarreal – Liverpool. The final will be played on May 28 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
