Even the most glass-half-empty supporter would be hard pressed to come up with a Manchester City performance better than what we saw against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola can pick Man City's master of the 'dark arts' to stop Atletico Madrid
13.04.2022 - 15:35 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Last Tuesday, Pep Guardiola’s post-match press conference was dominated by questions about the effectiveness of Atletico Madrid’s dark arts, but the Catalan has a master of his own that he could deploy in the second leg. Stopping counterattacks, faking injuries and even hair pulling, the Champions League quarter-final first leg between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid had it all last week.
Instead of the end-to-end affair we were treated to on Sunday when Liverpool came to town, the game against Diego Simeone’s side was played entirely at one end — with City camped outside the Atletico box for the entire 90 minutes.
It needed Guardiola to turn to his bench to find the breakthrough, with Phil Foden picking the lock and Kevin De Bruyne adding the final touches. It was a beautifully crafted goal that gave City the edge heading to the Wanda Metropolitano, ever so slightly.
READ MORE: Fernandinho clarifies Man City comments after Guardiola admission
The Blues were still going for the kill late into the contest at the Etihad — probably safe in the knowledge that, if something were to go wrong, there was still another 90 minutes to put it right. But the game plan may shift if the scores are the same with 20 minutes to play on Wednesday.
It was quite clear from the first leg that Simeone’s men will be prepared to deploy their dark arts tactics from the off. In fact, five minutes into the first leg, the referee had to warn one of the Atletico players about time-wasting from a free-kick, deep inside their own half.
The question is whether that continues in the second leg, or if the need for the hosts to score a goal quickens up their play slightly. The ironic thing is that City may need to do what their opponents did in the
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