In the early morning of Beijing time this morning, the last two second legs of the Champions League quarter-finals of this season were played, and the Premier League double Manchester City and Liverpool, who won the first leg, held the advantage, drew with Atletico Madrid in La Liga and Benfica in the Portuguese Super League, successfully passed the two-legged competition and advanced to the semi-finals.
At this point, all four champions league finalists have been created this season, including exactly two Premier League teams (Manchester City, Liverpool) and two La Liga teams (Real Madrid, Villarreal). In the semi-finals, Manchester City against Real Madrid, Liverpool encountered "yellow submarine", and the plot of "Premier League vs La Liga" is about to be staged.
Manchester City clashed with Atletico madrid players during the match.
A 0:0 in-court and off-field conflict
Manchester City, which advocates attack and pursues flamboyance, and Atletico, who are defensively excellent and win first, are two sides of the same coin. In the first leg, Atletico once put on a "5-5-0" extreme defensive formation on the road, and finally only lost 0-1.
The two sides moved to the Mets this morning, and Manchester City, who led the overall score, still occupied the active side, holding nearly 60% of the possession. In the first half, City had multiple chances. In the 30th minute, the youngster Foden crossed inside the penalty area, german midfielder Gundogan pushed the goal post, followed by a header to make up for it, which was blocked by Atletico defender Felipe, and Manchester City missed a good opportunity.
Atletico, who was not willing to be out of the game, attacked hard, and manager Simeone made five substitutions in the second half, all replaced by midfielders, including Carrasco, Correa, Suarez and Cunha. However, Atletico does have a gap with the "Blue Moon" in terms of strength, and it is still unable to break the goal. At the end of the game, the Atletico players were out of balance, Felipe deliberately kicked down Foden, and was sent off the court after eating a second yellow card, which also triggered a clash between the two teams. In stoppage time, Atletico coach Simeone applauded the referee on the sidelines and received a yellow card to bring the game without a goal to a controversial end. According to a video released by British media, the two teams clashed again in the players' tunnel when they left the field, and Atletico's Croatian defender Vrsaliko threw debris at the Manchester City players and clashed with England international Glalis.
"Every team that comes to this stadium in the Champions League has to suffer a crime. The other side played very tough and we were lucky to qualify. Manchester City manager Guardiola commented on the game with trepidation. When asked how to evaluate some of the fouls committed by Atletico players, Guardiola began to play Tai Chi, "I can't and won't judge what others do, I don't have anything to say." ”
Despite missing out on qualifying, Simeone affirmed the team's performance at the post-match press conference, and when faced with the question of how to evaluate Manchester City, the Argentine personality coach's answer was confusing, "Those who have a lot of vocabulary are smart, but those of us with a smaller vocabulary are not so stupid." ”
Liverpool striker Firmino scored two goals in 10 minutes.
A 3:3 game was actually played quite harmoniously
The first leg was won 3-1 away from home, giving Liverpool the upper hand in the second leg of the quarter-final against Benfica. The two teams met again at Anfield this morning, and in preparation for the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City this weekend, Liverpool boss Klopp chose to take a rotation of seven main players including Van Dijk, Arnold, Salah and Mane.
Despite their personnel reservations, Liverpool still played widely and played against their opponents. In the 21st minute, Greek left-back Zimikas crossed from a corner and assisted centre-back Konath with a header to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead. Benfica responded 10 minutes after conceding the ball when 20-year-old Portugal youngster Gonzalo Ramos fired straight into the corner of the penalty area. At half-time, the two teams were tied 1-1.
In the second half, Liverpool continued their onslaught, and in the 55th and 65th minutes, Brazilian striker Firmino scored two goals in 10 minutes to extend the aggregate score to 6-2. Since then, Liverpool have clearly relaxed, and Benfica, who is not willing to lose a big score, has scored one goal each by Ukrainian star Yaremchuk and Uruguayan striker Núñez. In the end, the two teams drew 3-3 and Liverpool advanced to the final four with an aggregate score of 6-4.
After the game, Klopp, who was in a good mood, praised the team, "We rotated 7 players, but the performance was one of the 'best of the season', although the 3-3 score was a bit regrettable, but the players all played their own characteristics." In the following semi-finals, Liverpool will play Villarreal against Bayern Munich, who have just eliminated the "Bundesliga giants", to which Klopp said: "Their consecutive defeats over Juve and Bayern are really impressive. In addition, their manager Emery is particularly good at winning cup matches and is a great coach. ”
According to the schedule, the two-legged match of this season's Champions League semi-final will be played in the early morning of April 27, 28 (first leg) and May 4 and 5 (second leg) Beijing time, with Manchester City and Liverpool taking the lead at home.
Source: Beijing Evening News
Reporter: Photo courtesy of Zhao Xiaosong and Xinhua News Agency
Process Editor: Yan Shengmiao