Manchester City suffered a double injury blow in a matter of minutes against Atletico Madrid as Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker were both forced off after suffering knocks.
Pep Guardiola made his first substitution of the evening midway through the second half with Raheem Sterling introduced in place of De Bruyne.
The Belgian’s influence on the Champions League tie had waned during the second half as Atletico Madrid started to play more expansively in search of an equaliser.
However, it quickly became apparent that the change was enforced rather than tactical, as De Bruyne was seen having ice strapped to his right leg on the City bench.
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De Bruyne and Walker were not the only ones to suffer issues on what was a bruising night for City inside the Wanda Metropolitano.
In the first-half, Phil Foden had to have his head bandaged up after being sent crashing to the floor by a dangerous aerial challenge from Felipe, who somehow escaped a caution for the foul.
Foden was sent flying again from another Felipe challenge in the closing stages of normal time which led to an ugly melee involving both sets of players, led by one-time City defender Stefan Savic.
The Montenegrin remonstrated furiously with Foden as he lay hurt on the floor, which led to City substitute Oleksandr Zinchenko attempting to pull Savic away from his teammate. Soon the corner flag was surrounded by players and substitutes from both teams.
Savic appeared to aim a headbutt at Sterling and also pulled Jack Grealish’s hair after the City substitute had said something to him. According to BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher, their disagreement continued into the tunnel.
Ultimately, City’s 1-0 first leg lead was enough for them to progress to the semi-final where they will face Real Madrid, although it was a victory that may have come at a cost.
When asked whether City had to show their grit to overcome Atletico after losing De Bruyne and Walker to injury, Guardiola responded: “Yeah, we are in big trouble. We cannot forget that we played three days ago in a tough game against Liverpool and then come here.
“We have a lot of injuries right now, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next part, in the next weeks but today we are going to celebrate because it is the third time in Manchester City’s history that we are in the semi-finals of the Champions League.”
The injuries have come at a bad time for City as they face Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday and are going toe-to-toe with Jurgen Klopp’s side for the Premier League title.
How City went through the full Atletico Madrid experience
Analysis by Daniel Storey, i‘s chief football writer
Atleti were spurred on by a raucous, tumultuous home crowd. It will forever be tempting to yearn for the old Vicente Calderon and its open grandstand that would bake in the midday sun. The Wanda Metropolitano is new and less characterful, but it also contains some of Europe’s best stadium acoustics. Each supporter was super-charged as if they had received a personal letter of instruction from Simeone: whistle every decision, claim every foul, deride every opponent.
But if Manchester City were unsettled, that only ever exists as a temporary state. Before long, City enter meditation mode, by which we mean they seem to take a series of communal deep breaths and slow the heart rate of their passing. From the 20th minute until half-time, they had three-quarters of the ball and all of the control.
This is not strictly exciting, you understand, but it is eminently watchable as a piece of art. It can also be stupefying for an opponent that loses track of when it is worth trying to tackle them and when all effort is wasted. Rodri and Laporte are the fulcrums – they completed 125 passes between them in the first half alone.
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City’s only weakness – and stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before – lies in their ability to turn half chances into good chances and good chances into goals. It is to the eternal frustration of generally delighted supporters that a group of otherwise technically phenomenal players can be profligate in increasingly intricate ways. So when Ilkay Gundogan hits the post from seven yards and has a diving header blocked two seconds later, everyone shrugs and says “Well yes, that makes total sense”.
And that creates its own pressure. Steeled to go again, Atleti were rejuvenated after half-time and probably deserved to force extra-time. Force is something that wasn’t lacking from the game’s final minutes. It was filled with histrionics: a fight, Simeone sarcastically clapping, players rolling, injuries feigned, those in red and white acting with faux-outrage at every decision. City were just as guilty, resorting to their own tactical snideness and dark arts.
City will march on, bruised and battered. There was collateral damage, injuries to Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker that may curb their enthusiasm in other competitions. But for now, only relief and rest and a little joy too. City ran the gauntlet in the Wanda, experiencing the gamut of the Atletico Madrid experience. They are in the semi-finals to recount the tale.
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