The spark came when Atletico defender Felipe, who had already been detained for clearing Phil Fontaine in the beginning, slipped through the sideline before appearing to kick him. With Fontaine down, hell is gone, another Atletico defender, Stefan Savic, tried to get him on his feet and was ousted by Oleksandr Zinchenko, who was City’s unused substitute, as everyone converges. It would be much more. When the warring sides finally broke away, Felipe received a second yellow card and Savic the first, possibly for a brawl with Fontaine and not for the back of the head to Rahim Sterling, another City substitute, who appeared to be missing. The break time was extended to 13 minutes – there would be seven bookings during this period alone – and Atletico almost equalized, with substitute Angel Correa extending Anderson low in the end. The stadium was in a frenzy, minds were lost and, after the final whistle, there would be a quarrel in the tunnel between Savic, the former City player, and Jack Grillis, another unused City substitute, which led to a police pose. who persecuted them. Grillis had called Savic the C-word during the hand-to-hand fight, which led to Savic grabbing his hair. A bandage Phil Fontaine fights with Marcos Giorente for the ball. Photo: Bagu Blanco / Pressinphoto / Shutterstock And yet, when the composure had cooled and some sort of logic returned, City had what they wanted – a place in the Champions League semi-finals, where they will face Real Madrid, the Chelsea champions across the city on Tuesday night. a different kind of classic high octane. From the point of view of the city, it was all about their resilience, showing cojones – as the locals would say – and there was great joy in how they stuck together during a second-half pressure cooker to come out with a hard-fought clean sheet. It was hard to remember Pep Guardiola’s swashbucklers being nailed in their own half for so long, but that was exactly what happened almost throughout the second half, Ilkay Gündogan’s shot in the 97th minute that was beautifully blocked by Jan Oblak who did not endured. City were imposed in the first half, but it was a different story after the break, Atletico – encouraged by a buzz and party crowd – drowned them, forced them to return, asking uncomfortable questions. From the restart, they pushed high, bringing aggression and had a lot of flicker in front of the goal, which the home fans were very quick to do. Renan Lodi’s cross was too far in front of the dangerous Joao Felix, the striker sent a header from the center of Marcos Giorente and Antoine Griezmann was a little untargeted from the edge of the area. City found it difficult to get on the pitch. Atletico’s game plan worked, they had their opponents exactly where they wanted them – in the back foot, the pulses that fight. Heart-to-mouth moments in support of the touring city kept coming. Atletico substitute Rodrigo De Paul curled up outside, Korea screamed for a penalty from Joao Cancello and Rodrigo and, in the 87th minute, another substitute, Matheus Cunha, had a shot blocked by John Stone. Diego Simeone introduced Luis Suarez from the bench and it seemed written that he would find the equalizer. And yet it was Korea who came closer to death, Anderson saves and City exhales. It was an epic competition in its own way, partly for the wrong reasons, with the dark arts always present. And let’s not pretend that City did not use them. With Fernandinho in the 79th minute to oversee things, the City players came down and stayed down, sometimes stirring. Fontaine was a symbol of their contempt. Felipe had left him dizzy and covered in blood after jumping into an aerial challenge in the 12th minute, wiping him with a wild barge on his upper body. But Fontaine, who came out with a bandage wrapped around his head, refused to be intimidated. It is noteworthy that Felipe avoided booking for this, but soon got his first because he went to the back of Kevin De Bruyne. The City midfielder will eventually limp. Guardiola wanted his players to look for the ball, to enjoy it, and they got to the front foot as the first half went on, with Atletico’s initial wave having subsided. City had gone close to the corner early, Stones sent his head high and created the great opportunity of the opening period in the 30th minute. The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. Riyad Mahrez unleashed a swerving effort from Kyle Walker who dribbled by him, but the ball went wide. He hit the crossbar and his head on the rebound was blocked by Felipe. Atletico did not get a shot in the first half and only escaped in the first half here – an attempt to deflect Jeffrey Kontogbia, which was routine for Anderson. The second period was anything but.
