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6:15
UEFA Champions League: English teams take advantage in the first leg of the quarter-finals
This Tuesday two UEFA Champions League quarterfinal matches were held at the same time (3:00 pm Venezuela time), one of them was at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City received Atlético de Madrid in a match which was decided by a Kevin De Bruyne goal in the second half.
Diego Simeone's goal was to try to keep a clean sheet for the second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano and the statistics clearly show it: 15 shots from the home team where 2 went on goal and of these, one was the Belgian's goal, while that the colchoneros only finished off the goal defended by Ederson once.
For his part, Pep Guardiola came out with his usual offensive game with a 4-3-3 that could not penetrate the rival area and made some adjustments to be able to beat Oblak's goal.
“We intuited that they would come out with a 5-3-2 and they have put Griezmann on the far right and Joao on the far left and they have set up two lines of 5 (5-5). In Prehistory, today and in 100,000 years, attacking this is very difficult. There is no space and they are very competitive and defend very well”, explained the coach of the Citizens.
The match began with a clear control of the game by the locals who also had the initiative in the attack, causing constant corner kicks and frustrating the possible colchoneras counters.
Goalkeeper Oblak was becoming a figure by anticipating several centers led by Guardiola and being well placed in the shots.
In this way the first half would end, with the constant initiatives of the locals, but without fruit in the rival area. Manchester City obtained 71% possession compared to 29% for Atlético de Madrid.
In the second part the story would be different. Atlético de Madrid would have an opportunity through Griezmann, who escaped at speed in a quick counterattack at minute 50 and the Frenchman gives it to Llorente, who shoots, but the ball goes to the center, easy for Ederson.
The game opened up and the opportunities came. Manchester responded at 54' with a shot from De Bruyne that Oblak ended up clearing with his hand and foot. A good opportunity that the 'rojiblanco' goalkeeper manages to neutralise.
Two minutes later, De Bruyne himself, this time, passes it to Sterling, but he shoots across without being able to open the scoring. At 59', “el Cholo” moves the visitors' bench. Koke, Griezmann and Marcos Llorente leave; and De Paul, Correa and Cunha enter.
City would have two more opportunities. One at 63' by Laporte finishes off in the area alone, but without managing to beat the goal, and another at 67' by Algerian Mahrez, who takes a shot that goes high. In the same minute Guardiola makes his changes. Gündogan, Sterling and Mahrez exit; and Grealish, Gabriel Jesús and Foden enter.
However, at minute 70 the only goal of the game would be produced. Phil Foden, on the first ball he touched, gave a filtered pass to the right of the area where Kevin De Bruyne gained speed and he defined a right cross to the far post. Final 1-0.
At 79 'City was able to extend the advantage and this time with a play that started again with Phil Foden, who gives it back to De Bruyne and the Belgian hits him, but Savic takes it off the goal line.
Atlético looked for a draw, but without much conviction. The Belgian De Bruyne had another opportunity at the end, however, the match would end with a narrow victory for the English team. The second leg will take place at the Wanda Metropolitano next Wednesday, April 13, where the Spaniards will seek a historic comeback.
Liverpool with a foot and a half in the semifinal
The other quarter-final match was held at the Estadio Da Luz, between Benfica and Liverpool. Those of Klopp prevailed with a score of 1-3 in a great match where the performance of Colombian Luis Díaz stood out.
The game began with a clear dominance of the English who quickly began the attack through Luis Díaz and Salah. The Colombian from the left unbalanced the defense in the 8th minute, sending a cross that the Egyptian could not control. At minute 10, Salah in a good individual action almost scored the first by entering from the right.
At minute 12 Liverpool attacked again and this time through Keita, who took a powerful shot, but the goalkeeper Vlachodimos deflected to the side. The ball is served on the right to Alexander-Arnold who shoots and the goalkeeper saves without problems.
However, at 16' the first goal of the match would come. Robertson takes a corner that falls to Konaté, who rises above the Benfica centre-backs to head her into the back of the net. 0-1 partial.
After the goal, Benfica tried to react and got an opportunity through Everton, who finished off a ball going in from the left, but it went wide touching the side of the net. At 24' the 'Reds' responded with a filtered pass that left Luis Díaz hand in hand with the goalkeeper, the Colombian tried to 'pick it up', but Vlachodimos stopped it.
At 34', Liverpool would score again. The play started from the middle of the field with a center by Alexander-Arnold that falls to the Colombian Luis Díaz in the area, but he gives a header to Mané who was better placed and only pushed it to score the second goal of the meeting. 0-2 partial.
At minute 45 the Egyptian Salah was able to settle the game. This time with a great pass from the Liverpool area through Alexander-Arnold who appealed to the speed of the Egyptian and he went hand in hand with the goalkeeper, but he defined late and Vlachodimos's body. The 0-3 is lost and so they go to rest.
Starting the second half the premises would discount. One against Benfica from the right sector at minute 49' ended with a low cross that Konaté blundered, passing the ball through the center of his legs. He receives Darwin Núñez in the area and defines, crossing it to Alisson. 1-2 partial.
From that moment on, the local team went for the draw. There were several goalscoring initiatives, but one of the clearest came from a quick counterattack down the left wing that ended in a pass to the middle so that Everton, from the edge of the area, took a cross shot low to the left post, but Alisson saved, rebounded and Fabinho sent it wide at 60'.
The locals kept trying, but little by little Klopp's men would regain control, until at minute 87, Liverpool recovered a ball in the middle of the field through Keita, who sent a filtered pass for the Colombian, winning at speed, dribble past the goalkeeper and define from the left foot to an empty goal. 1-3 definitive.
In this way the game would end with an important advantage for the English team for the second leg next Wednesday, April 13 at Anfield.
