(Football news) Manchester City took a 1-0 lead in the first leg and they now face Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano in the second leg. A Kevin De Bruyne strike put Pep Guardiola's side in cruise control at the Etihad Stadium, and the winner will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The reigning La Liga champions experienced another blow to their season as they lost 1-0 to Mallorca on Saturday in the La Liga, after winning six on the bounce in all competitions.
In order to turn the tie around at the Wanda Metropolitano and reach their first semi finals since 2016-17 they firstly must attempt a shot on goal, something that they did not manage to do at the Etihad Stadium across the entire 90 minutes. Although they have made it through on two of the past three occasions when they have lost the first leg, now they face a monumental task against probably the best team in the world. Returning home at the Wanda Metropolitano spells some kind of optimism for Atletico, who have won their last league matches but haven’t won in the Champions league since October 2020, drawing four and losing three since then
Despite failing to kill the game off in the opening periods against Liverpool on Sunday, Manchester City will know that the league title will be theirs as long as they do not drop any more points between now and the finale, but they have a FA Cup semi-final with the Reds and if things go their way then a Champions League final with the Merseyside counterparts. City have to focus on the task at hand against Atletico for what will be their 100th game in the Champions League, and they are subsequently unbeaten in nine across all tournaments and will be heading into the match as outright favourites
Along with their unbeaten streak, Guardiola's side have a 12-game unbeaten run on away ground in all competition and winning 10 of them, while more impressively have just conceded one goal in their last 630 minutes of domestic and continental competition away from home. For City, Ruben Dias is still struggling with his hamstring issue and teenage attacker Cole Palmer is dealing with a foot problem so they will surely be out for this fixture but Kyle Walker will return from suspension. For Ateltico, Hector Herrera remains sidelined alongside key defender Jose Gimenez, but Simeone will welcome back Yannick Carrasco into the playing XI.
Guardiola in his press conference said, “You cannot achieve things, win trophies, unless you concede a few chances as a team. We are not an exceptional team individually defensively, but together we run as a team from day one and that makes us solid. If we are not solid tomorrow it makes it difficult to get to the semi-finals.” Midfielder Fernandinho said: 'It will be a hostile environment, but we have to be ready. It's really, really important we keep concentrated for 90 minutes.”
Simeone said in a news conference on Tuesday, when asked about widespread criticism of Atletico's first leg approach. “I always put myself in the place of the coaches I compete against. There are different ways of expressing yourself. Opinions from journalists, ex-players, people who haven't played for a long time and want to say something different… Words are free. Everyone can have an opinion. Everybody has their own way of doing things and I choose mine, which is to always, always, always respect my colleagues."
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