Manchester City beat Atletico Madrid by 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Etihad Stadium.
The visitors deployed a 3-5-2 formation on paper but during the game, they played with two blocks of five to protect their goal. And as a consequence of that, they failed to make a single attempt on target.
Meanwhile, it was always going to be a tough job for the Rojiblancos to restrict Pep Guardiola’s side from scoring goals the way they approached the game and in the end, the Citizens broke the deadlock midway through the second half courtesy of the contribution from Kevin De Bruyne.
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Following this result, the advantage will be with Manchester City ahead of the next week’s second leg at Wanda Metropolitano. If Diego Simeone approaches the next week’s game the way they did the first leg, then it will be a long night for the reigning La Liga Champions.
Manchester City player ratings against Atletico Madrid:
Ederson – 6/10
The Brazilian had a comfortable night as he wasn’t required to make any save as the opposition could not manage a single attempt throughout the game.
Joao Cancelo – 6/10
The Portuguese weren’t at their best in terms of creating opportunities for the forward players. However, he had a comfortable night defending the opposition’s attacking threats.
John Stones – 6/10
The Englishman enjoyed a pretty comfortable outing as there wasn’t any threat from the opposition attackers.
Aymeric Laporte – 6/10
The same can be said about the Spaniards as they did not need to defend a lot. Their main job was to keep the ball rolling.
Nathan Ake – 6/10
The Dutchman got the chance to play in this crucial game and thankfully he did not have to defend in this encounter.
Rodrigo Hernández – 6/10
The Spaniard was tidy with the possession and did his job well throughout the game.
Ilkay Gundogan – 6/10
The midfielder didn’t find enough room between the lines and struggled to create chances. In the end, he was taken off in the second half.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7/10
Scored a great goal in the second half. However, he failed to influence the game in the first 45 minutes.
Riyad Mahrez – 6/10
The Algerians didn’t enjoy a great time and failed to create space against Atleti’s stubborn defensive structure.
Bernardo Silva – 6/10
The midfielder started the game as a false nine. However, he could not find any space between the lines. So, he had to drop deep to get the ball.
Raheem Sterling – 6/10
He found himself on the ground more often than not in search of a cheap penalty. But, the referee was shrewd enough to understand the Englishman’s tactics.
Substitute:
Phil Foden – 7/10
Made a big impact after coming on in the second half and played a great pass in unlocking the Rojiblancos’ defense which was beautifully finished by De Bruyne.
Jack Grealish – 6/10
He did well but could not make any crucial contributions after coming on from the bench.
Gabriel Jesus – 5/10
Played as the center-forward but struggled to make himself available against Atletico Madrid’s defensive structure.
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