{"id":77066,"date":"2022-04-06T12:23:50","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T12:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=77066"},"modified":"2022-04-06T12:23:50","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T12:23:50","slug":"de-bruyne-gives-man-city-slender-lead-over-stubborn-atletico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=77066","title":{"rendered":"De Bruyne gives Man City slender lead over stubborn Atletico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sports Desk:<\/strong> Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City's patience after Kevin De Bruyne broke Atletico Madrid's stubborn resistence to clinch a 1-0 win in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.<\/p>\n

Guardiola's side spent much of the night banging their heads against the red and white wall of Atletico's massed defence at the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n

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But Guardiola sent on Phil Foden midway through the second half and his sublime pass teed up De Bruyne to finally reward City for their territorial dominance.<\/p>\n

“I didn't expect to win three or four nil. I knew who we were facing. They have been together for many years,” Guardiola said.<\/p>\n

“They defend so well, so compact and so deep. We were patient. You have to be against these teams. They want you to be anxious.<\/p>\n

“It's a good result. Unfortunately we had a couple more chances with Kevin to score again.”<\/p>\n

While Guardiola launched a water bottle in a frenzied celebration that underlined what a testing night it had been for his team, the City boss knows the tie is far from over.<\/p>\n

“Even a 1-0 lead going to Madrid is tough,” Guardiola said.<\/p>\n

“We have to control our emotions. It will be a good test for us, our maturity. We will try to score and win the game.”<\/p>\n

At the start of a season-defining 11 days for treble-chasing City, this was a qualified success that justified their patient performance.<\/p>\n

But Atletico have already knocked out Manchester United in the last 16 this season, while Liverpool fell victim to Diego Simeone's side when the Reds were the holders in 2019-20.<\/p>\n

The Spanish champions will believe they can cause another surprise in the second leg in Madrid on April 13.<\/p>\n

“It's clear we were playing against an extraordinary opponent. We have to use a great way of defending and without being embarrassed,” Simeone said.<\/p>\n

“We need to be better, see if we can have the ball a bit more in the second leg. Perhaps we can create more difficulties. We are still in the tie.”<\/p>\n

City have no margin for error over the next two weeks as the Premier League leaders host Liverpool, just a point behind them in the title race, on Sunday.<\/p>\n

They head to Madrid next week before facing Liverpool again in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley three days later.<\/p>\n

– ‘Special quality' –<\/p>\n

Guardiola has often been criticised for his curious team selections in previous Champions League knockout stage defeats with City.<\/p>\n

However, Guardiola's game-changing decision to introduce Foden should silence a few critics after it turned a difficult evening into a vital victory.<\/p>\n

“When the game was a little bit flat, we knew we could change it with the substitutes,” Guardiola said.<\/p>\n

“Phil has a special quality.He had the composure to make an incredible assist and Kevin is in the best moment of his season.”<\/p>\n

As ever, City monopolised possession, yet they often found themselves shuffling passes across midfield before Atletico shut the door on them.<\/p>\n

Simeone's famously pragmatic approach presented a stark contrast to the purist principles espoused by Guardiola.<\/p>\n

Gradually, City rose to the challenge and Ilkay Gundogan went close with a curling shot that deflected wide off Stefan Savic soon after the interval.<\/p>\n

De Bruyne's free-kick finally forced Jan Oblak's first save, while Raheem Sterling dragged his effort well wide from a dangerous position moments later.<\/p>\n

When Aymeric Laporte headed wastefully over from Riyad Mahrez's corner, Guardiola had seen enough and he sent on Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus.<\/p>\n

Foden's arrival was an inspired move as the England forward played a key role when City at last broke through in the 70th minute.<\/p>\n

Taking possession outside the Atletico area, Foden shimmied away from two defenders and slipped a precise pass to De Bruyne, who timed his run perfectly to drill a low strike into the far corner from a tight angle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports Desk: Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City’s patience after Kevin De Bruyne broke Atletico Madrid’s stubborn resistence to clinch a 1-0 win in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg. Guardiola’s side spent much of the night banging their heads against the red and white wall of Atletico’s massed defence at the Etihad Stadium. But Guardiola […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":77067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n