In the early morning of April 14, Beijing time, Atletico returned home to play the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final match with Manchester City. In the end, the whole game was over, and the two sides could only draw 0-0. In such a situation, Manchester City relied on a 1-0 victory in the first leg to advance to the next round, and the opponent waiting for them will be Real Madrid, the absolute king of the Champions League.
In the first leg, Atletico's tactics on the road were very conservative. In the whole game, Atletico only had 0 shots on goal, which was simeone's first time. For Simeone, the 0-1 loss in the first leg, although not a success, was only one point behind, and it was not too much of a failure.
Returning to the Wanda Metropolitano in the second leg, Simeone could theoretically strike back at any time. On the starting list, Simeone is still the first regular defensive lineup, and the 5 defenders come on to stabilize the defense first, trying to rely on the breakthrough counterattack of players such as Felix and Griezmann to get the opportunity to score goals.
On the Manchester City side, the starting lineup has been adjusted to a certain extent from the first leg, and their goal in this game is not necessarily to score goals, as long as they stabilize the 1-0 advantage, they can also achieve promotion. At the end of the half, City still had a greater advantage, with a jerk shot from Gundogan hitting the goalpost and Atletico escaping a suspected penalty in the penalty area.
With eight shots on goal at half-time, City failed to get their targets right, which is the first time they have encountered such a situation in the Champions League. Facing Atletico Led by Simeone, Guardiola had a hard time laying the groundwork for a moment and a half.
Coming back in the second half, Atletico, who were behind in the aggregate, was bound to attack. Whether it's Griezmann or Felix, they both have a certain number of shooting opportunities, but overall they are not much of a threat. Seeing that there was no way to make a breakthrough, Simeone made consecutive substitutions in an attempt to change the situation on the field.
Of course, on the Manchester City side, Guardiola also responded in time, continuously replacing players with defensive ability to try to maintain the existing advantage. In the 88th minute, a large-scale clash broke out between the two sides, and Philippe was sent off with a red card. Atletico, who played 1 less, are clearly no longer a rival to Manchester City.
There were nine minutes of injury time in the second half, but atletico, who had 10 men, basically lost the possibility of promotion. In the end, the whole game ended, and the two sides drew 0-0. Relying on a 1-0 victory in the first leg, Manchester City made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season. In a two-legged match, it's really hard to score a goal for Atletico, which is why Guardiola was so excited after scoring in the first leg.
After losing the game, Atletico will also be a four-sided situation this season. Unable to break through in the Champions League, Atletico also missed the opportunity to avenge Real Madrid. If Atletico could have played more aggressively over two legs, would they have had a different outcome? But the game is over and they can only start all over again next season.