A goalless draw at Atletico Madrid was enough for the “Citizens” to progress after the 1-0 first leg win, while the “Reds” advanced to the semi-finals after beating Benfica Lisbon 3-3 at home with a total score of 6-4. There the duels are Real Madrid – ManCity and Villarreal – Liverpool. Game dates are April 26th and 27th and May 3rd and 4th.
In Madrid, the game initially went according to expected patterns. Manchester City had a lot of ball possession, Atletico stood deep, lurked for counterattacks and tried to buy the opponent’s guts with hardness. The target was often Phil Foden, who therefore had to wear a head bandage after just a few minutes. Nevertheless, the young English star provided the assist for the best City chance before the break – Ilkay Gündogan shot the post after his submission (30th).
In the first half, Atletico hardly put any accents on the offensive, but that should change after the change of sides. Antoine Griezmann shot wide of the short corner in the 47th minute (47th) and ten minutes later with a direct shot just missed the target. In between, Joao Felix headed well over the bar from a good position (55′).
City no longer seemed as confident and safe as before the break, which was also due to bad luck with injuries. Kevin den Bruyne and Kyle Walker had to leave the field prematurely. In the finish, the Madrilenians pushed for the 1-0 before their fuses completely blew. Felipe, who could have been sent off much earlier, followed up on Foden and was ruled out. After that, some other Atletico players including coach Diego Simeone were lucky not to see the red card.
On the other hand, there was no excitement at Anfield Road. Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp initially rested some top stars like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk after the 3-1 away win, but the hosts were still in control of the action. Ibrahima Konate headed in for Liverpool after a Kostas Tsimikas corner (21′), Goncalo Ramos equalized (32′) and soon after the restart the home side made the supposed decision when Roberto Firmino made assists from Diogo Jota (55′) and Thiago (65th) was spot on.
Benfica managed an honorable farewell thanks to goals from Roman Yaremchuk (73′) and Darwin Nunez (82′). Both goals were initially whistled offside for alleged offside, but were then given by the video assistant. Benfica’s Valentino Lazaro watched it from the substitutes’ bench.
Source: Nachrichten
