Kevin De Bruyne had his sore legs on ice, Kyle Walker hobbled his way around the perimeter of the pitch towards the treatment room, Phil Foden sported a bandage absorbing blood from, a head wound.
Yet battered and bruised, they endured. Manchester City will return to Madrid to play the team a few stops along Metro line 7. Real Madrid take a toll of a different kind. It won’t necessarily be any easier containing the skills of Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior and the brilliant finishing of Karim Benzema – but it will probably hurt less.
This was an ordeal, as games against Atletico Madrid tend to be. Walker was not kicked out of the game by Renan Lodi but it was a full-blooded challenge that did for his ankle.
De Bruyne probably succumbed to being the best player on the field across two matches, creating the most chances, scoring the only goal and going up against players who are coached by Diego Simeone to challenge every facet of their opponents play.
It may be good news for Liverpool in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final. While they were able to rest players against Benfica, the best of Manchester City were fighting to the last second to keep Atletico at bay.
It is the Simeone way. He plays it a lot like a white ball cricket game, where everything happens in the last five or ten overs.
Here, Atletico only played like they were losing the tie in the final 15 minutes of it. Then they threw it all at City, with Walker’s replacement, Nathan Ake particularly busy. Rodrigo De Paul had two good chances, Antoine Griezmann another. And then it all got very ugly.
Atletico are sore losers so, as the minutes slipped away, they grew ever nastier. Felipe, who had already been booked, left one on Foden, again. The player looked hurt.
Stefan Savic came screaming over and accused him of play-acting. Oleksander Zinchenko, warming up as a substitute, pulled him away. A melee ensued.
At the end of it, Savic was booked Felipe dismissed. He didn’t go quietly, arguing, kicking a stray water bottle, incandescent with rage. Why, God knows. He could have gone earlier.
Daniel Siebert, the referee, lost control. He booked three City players for various infringements, including Joao Cancelo, who will now miss the first leg against Real Madrid. Yet City held on, just, through nine additional minutes and more. Ederson’s final save of the game from Angel Correa was timed at 102 minutes. The celebrations when the whistle blew showed what Pep Guardiola made of it all. The bottles aimed in his direction more indicative of Atletico’s contribution.
