G.Light nations, different customs. The two England football heavyweights won their first legs in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday. Manchester City beat Atletico Madrid 1-0, Liverpool FC beat Benfica 3-1 in Benfica. But at the victory in Portugal J ஜூrgen Klopp expressed his brightest smile and was more than half happy with the battle for the semifinals, with Pep Cardiola leaving a lot of steam early on. After the victory goal, the Manchester coach threw an open water bottle into the air.
Catalan showed emotions in Atletico Madrid’s game of nerves against perpetual persecutors. After all, it is not surprising that the city is in a lot of danger. Finally it should work. Finally, the pot of the Premier class should be placed in the showcase in Manchester. Despite the money from Abu Dhabi, it didn’t work until now. The city was close last May. But before the final against Chelsea and Thomas Toussaint, Cardiola had another special idea in a special game that brought the team to its doom. Without a defensive midfielder, Manchester lost 0-1.
This time Cardiola resisted his urge to throw luxury. Traditionally, Manchester City captured 71 per cent of the ball and played as a bulwark from Madrid. It lasted a long time, but revealed a significant gap. In the 70th minute, Kevin de Bruyne took the best pass from Bill Foden, who came on as a substitute. “It was a perfect help and Kevin’s finish was fantastic,” Cardiola said. In Manchester, where it was already raining, he emptied his bottle into the air. After that, more city opportunities were unused.
Simeon’s Minimalism
Next Wednesday (9pm on the FAZ Live Ticker in the Champions League and DAZN) the opening leg of the second leg is good, but not very good, especially since this season has gone without the special value of Eve’s goals. This is a one-goal lead for the England champions when they travel to Spain next week. Then Atletico will have to do a little more than Tuesday. However, it is not enough to progress with the same achievement: no corner, no shot towards the goal, no goal. But Atletico is a La Simeone named for its minimalism.
In Spain they found their own word den Colismo. Solo is the nickname of Atletico coach Diego Simeone. He has coached the club once since 2011. And even though different players have been following him for many years, he made sure the team got a flawless signature. Solismo Defensive stability, extreme play, fighting for every meter, tactical reliability, pragmatism, resilience and eternal confidence in victory. So it goes without saying that no Atletico player will believe in progress.
Liverpool FC are closer to the semi-finals than Manchester City and Atletico. Jurgen Klopp’s team beat Benfica 3-1 in a parallel match. After a turbulent corner ball from a corner (17th minute) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (34th), Sadio Mane used the help of Luis Diaz, after a clear excellent first half with goals from Ibrahima Conade, the English came under the axis again. Darwin Nunis (49th) shrunk when the otherwise strong former Leipzig Conade hit the ball. But Dias converted Liverpool 3-1 until the final.
