Man City knocked down the “dark army” after the hard battle; Liverpool almost regretted at Anfield
Man City’s hard win
After witnessing 2 second leg quarterfinal matches Champions League The first game took place with a scenario full of surprises, coach Pep Guardiola let his players enter the game with great caution. Not pushing the team up with a dizzying attack speed like when meeting Liverpool, Man City actively passed the ball, controlled the ball in the middle of the field and only occasionally suddenly accelerated.
This way of playing makes Atletico Madrid encounter many difficulties. The home team was almost unable to get on the ball in front of Man City’s very well organized defense. Griezmann and Felix are separated, rarely finding each other in coordination.
The most notable situation in the first half was Kyle Walker’s entry into the Atletico Madrid penalty area. Breaking down unexpectedly on the right, Walker passed the ball inside. Gundogan and Kevin De Druyne in turn hit a shot but could not pass a jungle of opposing players.
True to the nickname “dark army”, Atletico Madrid has many fouls and tricks that make Man City players injured.
Thought with a pretty good game in hand, Man City will go straight to the ticket to go on. However, Atletico Madrid sped up impressively in the second half.
No longer a deep defense, the home team pushed up the squad and looked for many different options to threaten the opponent’s goal. The intense pressing from Atletico Madrid made Man City somewhat falter. And when Kevin De Bruyne left the field, the visitors turned to counter-attacking defense with clearances not unlike the usual tiqui-taca style.
Terrible pressure led coach Pep Guardiola to bring Fernandinho on to the field to strengthen the defensive front. With Rodri low, many times Man City plays almost with 5 defenders.
Pep Guardiola had moments of confusion before Diego Simeone
However, the situational solution only helped The Citizens breathe easier for a few minutes. Towards the end of the game, Atletico Madrid attacked more and more. Goalkeeper Ederson is constantly on alert.
Even when Felipe had to leave the field because of a red card, Atletico Madrid still pushed hard. They confused Man City so much that they made a series of errors that led to an opportunity for Angel Correa in the 12th minute of stoppage time. Unfortunately, the Argentine’s kick was not enough to beat an Ederson so excellent.
Conflict situation between players of 2 teams
Ederson helps Man City keep a clean sheet
The dramatic 90 minutes ended with the score 0-0. A real drama between the two teams with a total of 10 yellow cards, 1 red card was drawn. Man City won the final 1-0 and won tickets to the semi-finals. Their opponent will be another team from Madrid – Real Madrid.
Result: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Man City (Finally: 0-1)
Squad:
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Llorente, Savic, Felipe, Mandava, Renan Lodi, Koke, Kondogbia, Lemar, Joao Felix, Griezmann
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Joao Cancelo, De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan, Mahrez, Foden, Bernardo Silva
Liverpool almost regretted being subjective
Winning 3-1 in the first leg away from home, coach Klopp was extremely confident when welcoming Benfica at Anfield. Liverpool played with a squad with many names that were rarely started. Pillars like Van Dijk, Robertson, Trend Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Mane or Salah are all out.
However, Liverpool still created great pressure on Benfica’s goal. The home team held the ball ahead of the opponent and launched a series of shots.
In the 21st minute, Konate concretized the advantage of the island brigade by taking the lead. From the corner, Tsimikas hung the ball into the penalty area and Konate jumped to head the net.
Konate celebrates opening the scoring
Benfica rose up and 10 minutes later equalized 1-1. A somewhat erroneous challenge from Milner created the conditions for Gonçalo Ramos to break the offside trap and beat the goalkeeper in the face-to-face position.
Liverpool “poured cold water” on the opponent’s hopes at the beginning of the second half. Veteran midfielder Vertonghen broke the ball carelessly, creating conditions for the Red Brigade to make a dangerous attack. Firmino easily cushioned the ball at close range to make it 2-1. It was Firmino who doubled the lead for Liverpool a few minutes later.
Leading 3-1, the Red Brigade firmly grasped the ticket to continue and had a loose leg in the minutes. As a result, they let Benfica score 2 consecutive goals in the 73rd and 81st minutes. In both phases, Liverpool’s defense played superficially and let the opponent comfortably defeat Alisson.
Benfica scored 3 goals against Liverpool
Coach Klopp, of course, could not be happy to see his students let the opponent equalize 3-3 so easily. After his reminder, Liverpool made no further mistakes in the final minutes.
3-3 is the final result of the second leg. Liverpool advanced to the semi-finals with a final score of 6-4. The Red Brigade will face the “dark horse” Villarreal – the team that caused a stir when they eliminated Bayern Munich.
Liverpool have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2019.
Result: Liverpool 3-3 Benfica (Final: 6-4)
Goal:
Liverpool: Konate 21′, Firmino 55′ 65′
Benfica: Ramos 32′, Yaremchuk 73′, Nunez 81′
Squad:
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas, Keita, Henderson, Milner, Jota, Firmino, Diaz
Benfica: Vladchodimos, Gilberto, Otamendi, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Weigl, Taarabt, Everton, Ramos, Goncalves, Nunez
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Soha.vn – Read the original article here
