It was tense, it was suffocating, it was full-blooded – according to plan – and it exploded in the 89th minute with mass banter between the Atlético Madrid and Manchester City players, many of whom were substitutes.
The spark was ignited when Atlético defender Felipe, who had been cautioned against Phil Foden in the early stages, slid into him on the touchline before appearing to kick him. With Foden down all hell broke loose, another Atlético defender, Stefan Savic, tried to get him up and was shooed away by Oleksandr Zinchenko, who was an unused City substitute, as everyone came together.
There would be a lot more. When the warring factions were finally separated, Felipe received a second yellow card and Savic a first, presumably for the altercation with Foden rather than his headbutt on Raheem Sterling, another City substitute who appeared to have been missed.
Thirteen minutes of added time – seven bookings were issued in that time alone – and Atlético almost equalized when substitute Angel Correa Ederson extended the ball with a low shot.
The stadium was in turmoil, thoughts were lost and after the final whistle a fight broke out in the tunnel between Savic, the former City player, and Jack Grealish, another unused City substitute, resulting in a group of police officers charging in from behind them. Grealish had called the C-word to Savic during the melee, resulting in Savic grabbing his hair.
A bandaged Phil Foden fights for the ball against Marcos Llorente. Photo: Bagu Blanco/Pressinphoto/ShutterstockAnd yet, with tempers cooling and some sense of sanity returning, City had what they wanted – a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Real Madrid, the Chelsea conquerors of Citywide on Tuesday night different kind of high-octane classic.
From City’s perspective, it was all about their resilience, Cojones showed – as the locals would put it – and there was particular delight in how they stuck together as a second-half pressure cooker emerged with a hard-fought clean sheet.
It was hard to remember Pep Guardiola’s daredevils being pinned in their own half for so long, but that’s what happened for most of the second half, with Ilkay Gündogan’s 97th-minute shot, superbly saved by Jan Oblak, not withstand.
City had prevailed in the first half but after the break it was a different story, Atlético – propelled by a shrill and partisan crowd – choking them, forcing them back, asking uncomfortable questions. From the restart they pushed high, brought the aggression and had numerous flares in front of goal that the home fans got over with ultra-fast. A cross from Renan Lodi was just too far ahead of the dangerous Joao Felix, the striker headed over the goal from a Marcos Llorente center and Antoine Griezmann went just wide of the goal from the edge of the box.
City struggled to get onto the field. Atlético’s game plan worked, they had their opponents exactly where they wanted them – on the back foot, pounding the pulse. The heart-in-mouth moments for the traveling city support continued. Atlético substitute Rodrigo De Paul rolled wide, Correa howled from a penalty against a combination of João Cancelo and Rodri and in the 87th minute a shot from another substitute, Matheus Cunha, was blocked by John Stones.
Diego Simeone introduced Luis Suarez from the bench and it seemed written that he would equalize. And yet it was Correa who came closest to dying, saving Ederson and giving City a sigh of relief.
It was an epic competition in its own right, partly for the wrong reasons, with dark arts ubiquitous. And let’s not pretend City didn’t hire them. With Fernandinho monitoring things in the 79th minute, City’s players went down and lay, sometimes squirming.
Foden was a symbol of their defiance. Felipe had left him dazed and bloodied after jumping into him in a 12-minute aerial challenge, obliterating him with a savage upper body thrust. But Foden, who showed up with a bandage around his head, was undeterred. Remarkably, Felipe avoided a caution for this, but soon got his first for going behind Kevin De Bruyne. The City midfielder would eventually limp.
Guardiola wanted his players to seek out the ball, to enjoy it, and they got on the front foot as the first half progressed after Atlético’s initial attack ebbed away. City went in from an early corner, Stones headed high and in the 30th minute they created the great chance of the first period.
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Riyad Mahrez released Kyle Walker, who crossed deep and when Foden put the ball down Gundogan had a close-range shot. He hit the post and his header on the rebound was blocked by Felipe.
Atlético missed a shot in the first leg and only one went wide here in the first half – a deflected shot by Geoffrey Kondogbia, routine for Ederson. The second period was anything but.