Man City vs. Atletico Madrid result, highlights & analysis: De Bruyne finally breaks through Simeone's wall

Dom Farrell

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Man City vs. Atletico Madrid result, highlights & analysis: De Bruyne finally breaks through Simeone's wall image

ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Kevin De Bruyne fired Manchester City to a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid.

Back in Manchester after disposing of Manchester United in the previous round, Atletico were typically resolute during the first half - starving themselves of possession and City of chances.

But the hosts stepped things up after the break and Guardiola, whose tactics on these occasions have so often been put under the microscope, came up trumps with a triple substitution in the 70th minute.

Phil Foden, a surprise omission from the starting XI, was one of the fresh faces and had been on the field a little over a minute when he released De Bruyne to arrow a low right-footed finish across Jan Oblak and into the bottom left corner.

An hour of steady drizzle before kick-off ensured a slick playing surface that played into City's hands stylistically. 

They drove Atletico back over the course of the opening 45 minutes but were unable to register a shot on target before the interval. John Stones coming forward from centre-back to shoot aimlessly over the bar from 30 yards was a sign of the sort of frustration Diego Simeone tries to sow.

Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann each threatened on the counter-attack early in the second half but City then started to move through the gears.

Oblak needed two goes to smuggle a De Bruyne free-kick to safety before Raheem Sterling dragged wide on the end of a cute set-piece pass from the Belgium star.

MORE: Pep Guardiola vs. Diego Simeone: The missing rivalry of this Champions League era

Aymeric Laporte should have done better than heading Riyad Mahrez's 64th-minute corner over the bar, shortly after Simeone made a triple substitution and reverted to a 4-3-3.

However, it was Guardiola's trio of changes - all in the forward line - that proved decisive. Jack Grealish was pinned wide on the left, with Gabriel Jesus through the middle, but it was Foden's twinkle toes on the end of Rodri's pass that unpicked Atletico and De Bruyne did the rest.

De Bruyne is Man City's Champions League king again

It was De Bruyne's 50th Champions League appearance for City and, in a team packed with lavish talents, he again demonstrates that he stands apart on the big occasion.

Just as he did in the 2015/16 win over Paris Saint-Germain, the 2016/17 victory against Barcelona, the 2019/20 triumph at Real Madrid and last season's knockout wins against Borussia Dortmund and PSG, De Bruyne came up with the goods when City needed him to.

He is their ultimate Champions League clutch player.

Simeone's unswerving demands spell out Atletico danger

In the first answer at his post-match press conference, Simeone apologised for shouting himself hoarse. He made no apologies when he listed the non-negotiables for his players next week.

"Humility. Passion. Hard work. And understanding the path to beat them," the Argentinian said, talking in deliberate bullet-points. His side had 29.5% possession and did not have a shot of any description.

Yet the way Angel Correa and others provoked Grealish during the closing stages, trying to draw City into their chaos spoke of a tie that is still very much alive. Guardiola was far from celebratory in his post-game address and will know there is some heavy weather to negotiate in the Spanish capital eight days from now.

Man City vs. Atletico Madrid final score

  1H 2H Final
MAN CITY 0 1 1
ATLETICO 0 0 0

Goals: De Bruyne (Foden) — 70th min.

Man City vs. Atletico Madrid highlights and commentary

Full-time: That's a hard-earned, deserved and slender advantage for Manchester City. The matchwinner De Bruyne was brilliant, as was Foden in his cameo. Atletico's travelling support are still in fine voice at the final whistle, they know this isn't over. Sure, their didn't have a shot over the course of 90 minutes, but the Grealish tomfoolery during the closing stages removed any doubt over how feisty next week's return promises to be.

91st minute: Atletico have certainly targeted Grealish since his introduction and Vrsaljko joins Correa in the book for booting the playmaker. For reasons best known to himself, Cunha responds by flinging himself to the turf about 30 yards away and Ederson is annoyed.

90th minute: Ake was one of Guardiola's questioned call tonight, but he's been excellent. The Dutchman sees off a Correa threat to earn a goalkick and we're into stoppage time.

86th minute: Just wonderful play from Cancelo, who cuts out a dangerous lofted pass with the outside of his foot and kills it dead. He launches an attack that ends with De Bruyne thumping one just over.

83rd minute: Ohh, it's all gone off. Correa boots the ball at a prone Grealish right by the touchline. A melee ensues and Guardiola pulls the understandably furious England man away from his attempts at retaliation. Correa is booked. The cynic in me thinks this might be Simeone's men looking to engineer and benefit from a bit of chaos.

80th minute: More twinkle-toed magic from Foden, who leads Atleti a merry dance down the right channel. Vrsaljko produced a brilliant block as De Bruyne thunders the cutback goalwards. That would have been a long way back for Atletico.

78th minute: Atletico have to break from their defensive shell and Vrsaljko sends a dangerous cross spinning into Ederson's arms.

76th minute: To circle back around to the pre-match overthink narrative, Guardiola is often criticised for - if anything - underthinking his use of the bench. But a triple substitution and a hometown hero with a point to prove yielded instant dividends.

Foden had been on the pitch for 80 seconds. This was not an area many would have put money on Guardiola besting Simeone, but it produced a big goal.

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70th minute: GOAL!!!!! De Bruyne!!!!

Instant impact from Foden, who takes Rodri's pass, wriggles into some space and slips in De Bruyne. City's man for the big Champions League nights makes no mistake and plants a low shot beyond Oblak into the bottom left corner. The Etihad Stadium erupts.

69th minute: Anything you can do... Guardiola is also going for a triple change, with Grealish, Foden and Jesus coming on. Gundogan, Sterling and Mahrez make way. De Bruyne takes the armband and some pointed instructions from his manager. Foden, Jesus and Grealish have formed an all-new City front three.

67th minute: Sterling tripped in the box by Reinildo and the Etihad Stadium is fuming. But De Bruyne's through ball was probably running through to Oblak in any case, explaining referee Kovacs' inaction. 

64th minute: CHANCE! And in the context of this game, a very good one. Finally a City corner catches Atletico napping but Laporte cannot guide Mahrez's delivery under the crossbar.

60th minute: That was a useful spell for Guardiola's side and Simeone has been prompted into a triple change. De Paul, Correa and Cunha on for Koke, Griezmann and Llorente. It looks like Cholo has reverted to 4-3-3 so some new problems for Pep to ponder.

57th minute: That's one of City's better chances. De Bruyne slides a cute free-kick beyond a momentarily static Atleti backline but Sterling drags wide of the far post left-footed. He got his angles all wrong there.

55th minute: De Bruyne drills a venomous strike beyond the wall but Oblak saves well and hacks the loose ball away with his boot. That feels like one those situations City have to make count with Atletico in this mood.

54th minute: De Bruyne and Mahrez conjure a free-kick routine. They involve Bernardo, who wins another from Lodi 10 yards closer to goal. Danger zone...

50th minute: Again Atletico snuff out a City corner and again they have a man extra for a counter-attack. The hosts avert the danger but Simeone has altered something in his defensive set-up that is allowing Atleti to break in greater numbers. What that is, well, a brighter tactician myself could tell you. Handily for City, Guardiola falls into that very large category.

47th minute: Danger at both ends! First a Gundogan effort is deflected narrowly wide. City make a hash of the corner and Griezmann looks like he's away. But there's a lot of ground to cover and Gundogan arduously makes up the yards. Cultured footballers those two; speed demons, not so much.

46th minute: We're back underway. Llorente gets away into the City penalty area but the offside flag spares the hosts.

Halftime: Goalless at the break. Simeone and Guardiola try to control football games in different ways and both will feel they have achieved their aims to an extent. City enjoyed 73% possession and moved the ball at a good tempo, yet Atletico never gave them a meaningful sight of goal and closed up most of the dangerous spaces around their box with the minimum of fuss. Grab a drink, stretch your legs and we'll see you back here shortly.

44th minute: Simeone is increasingly frantic - phase one of the plan is almost complete and he badly wants to keep the deadlock intact for half-time. The sight of Stones blootering a one miles over from 30 yards should calm him a bit.

41st minute: Penalty appeal for City. De Bruyne is bundled over by Felipe when chasing a lofted Cancelo pass. The contact is minimal and referee Kovacs is not interested.

40th minute: De Bruyne steers a low ball towards the near post. Oblak gathers it easily, but with the right run that's a dangerous cross.

39th minute: Howling with rain now here. The sort of weather that it feels like the fantastically gesticulating Simeone might have summoned from the sky. 

34th minute: A speculative Rodri effort is blocked - City are to register a shot on target. Simeone celebrates by having a good old chirp at the ref about a De Bruyne foul on Vrsalijko.

30th minute: Sterling vs. Vrsalijko could become a gruelling duel. Atletico's wing-back is very much focused on the latter half of his job title. He sees the England winger off to concede a corner and again there's no dice for City.

28th minute: Cancelo leaves Reinildo in an ungainly heap but his touch off to Mahrez runs out for a goalkick. City need to be more incisive with their final ball. Mahrez then leaves Renan Lodi prone. It's slippery out there!

24th minute: A rare foray for the visitors as Joao Felix gets away down the left. His countryman Cancelo snuffs that one out but there are nervy moments for the Portugal international shortly afterwards. Atletico might look to revisit City's right defensive channel.

21st minute: Defending stoutly away from home is their thing, but Atletico are getting pushed and prodded very deep here. The defence is frequently stationed between the 18 yard line and penalty spot, which wasn't the case early on. As if to underline how far back they are, a De Bruyne throughball for Mahrez is deflected for City's latest corner. That attack ends with Bernardo shooting speculatively over from range.

18th minute: City getting plenty of dangerous balls into the box, with Mahrez the latest to test the Atletico defence but there's no one to smuggle home. Are you watching, Erling Haaland?

13th minute: Sterling is on the move down the Atletico left and takes a tumble. Bernardo picks up the pieces and goes down under a Koke challenge. To his frustration the referee awards a corner that Atletico deal with easily.

12th minute: De Bruyne's snapshot is deflected behind. Laporte gets up to meet Mahrez's resulting corner but the ball sails harmlessly wide.

11th minute: Atletico's leisurely approach to goalkicks and defensive free-kicks already drawing jeers.

9th minute: Cancelo has a speculative effort blocked. City enjoying most of the possession as you'd expect but no clear sights of the Atletico goal thus far.

7th minute: Atletico deal with a De Bruyne free-kick into the area and City's Belgium midfielder then gets back to thwart a counter-attack after an unusually slack pass from Gundogan.

6th minute - Say what you like about Guardiola and Simeone's contrasting football philosophies but they appear to be wearing identical black bubble overcoats.

3rd minute: First test for Ake at left-back as he has a rampaging Llorente breathing down his neck. He manages to deal with the danger and win a free-kick.

2nd minute: City have lined up with Cancelo at right-back, Ake and left-back and Stones and Laporte at centre-back. Bernardo and De Bruyne look like they'll share central-attacking duties. Overthinking? What overthinking?

2 minutes to kickoff: The Champions League anthem gets its usual jeers at Eastlands, with a fair bit more gusto than of late. The teams are off for their pre-match photo and we're all set.

5 minutes to kickoff: The atmosphere in here is ramping up nicely as kick-off approaches. Blue Moon on, Atletico fans whistling it, a Joy Division-inspired banner in the South Stand. Drizzle has been falling steadily for most of the past hour, which should give the hosts the sort of slick playing surface they enjoy.

15 minutes to kickoff: The previous time I was in this ground for a Champions League final was City v Tottenham in 2019. It was 3-2 midway through the first half, which sounds great but my fingers might fall off if anything like that goes down again.

20 minutes to kickoff: There’s rarely such consternation over a Simeone line-up, even allowing for Cholo’s fairly recent switch from his trusty compact 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2. You know exactly what you’re going to get from Atletico and Simeone’s players are rigorously familiar with what their coach requires. Such clarity can be a huge asset on high-pressure occasions.

The teams are going through their warm-ups amid a steady stream of Manchester drizzle. It’s the sort of rain it’s great to play football in, if that makes any sense.

40 minutes to kickoff: Foden has been Guardiola’s go to option as City’s central attacker recently and, theoretically, any of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling or Riyad Mahrez could fill that spot. Removing Bernardo from the midfield against a team as famed for their tenacity as Atletico would feel like a mistake and City have a pleasingly well-rounded feel when the Portugal international joins Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan in the engine room. De Bruyne was City’s false nine en route to last season’s final.

Mahrez Bernardo Silva Manchester City
UEFA Champions League

50 minutes to kickoff: As is often the case with a Guardiola XI, who plays where is the big question. John Stones could play at right-back in a straight swap for the suspended Kyle Walker. That would be just one change from the back four that kept a clean sheet at Burnley on Saturday, but Joao Cancelo switching to the right and Nathan Ake playing at left-back to leave Stones partnering Aymeric Laporte in the centre would give the defence a far more balanced feel against a dangerous Atletico forward line.

1 hour to kickoff: So, are those "stupid tactics" to quote the man himself? As Guardiola would say - and this was kind of his very sarcastic point yesterday - we'll only really know once we see how it all shakes out. But no Foden for a game of this magnitude feels like a notably big call, albeit one that might be informed by the hellish Atleti-Liverpool-Atleti-Liverpool schedule City have on their immediate agenda.

1 hour 10 mins to kickoff: And here's the Atleti XI. Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix start together up front, while Felipe is in at centre-back as Jose Gimenez misses out through injury.

1 hour 15 mins to kickoff: Nathan Ake starts for Manchester City for the first time in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Phil Foden is benched with Kevin De Bruyne potentially taking on false-nine duties.

1 hour 30 mins to kickoff: Guardiola is certainly under no illusions with regards to the scale of the task facing his players tonight. "You cannot believe how tough an opponent Atletico Madrid will be over these two games," he wrote in his programme notes. "They will fight for absolutely everything and, believe me, we will have to be at our best to make it to the semi-finals."

1 hour 40 mins to kickoff: It's that time of year again where all eyes will be on whether Pep Guardiola has a tactical brainwave for a major Champions League game. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has not prevailed in the competition since a second success in three years with Barca in 2011.

Some of the scrutiny around Guardiola's tactical calls is a little imbalanced. When he makes a peculiar-looking selection and it works, no one bats an eyelid. The City manager teased reporters about this in yesterday's press conference when he said he would come up with "stupid tactics" for tonight. The teamsheets are under half an hour away...

2 hours to kickoff: Welcome to Sporting News' live coverage from the Etihad Stadium.

MORE: Mahrez holds key to Man City's Champions League hopes as Haaland looms large

How to watch Man City vs. Atletico Madrid

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date April 5 April 5 April 5 April 6
Time 20:00 GMT 15:00 ET 15:00 ET 05:00 AET
TV channel BT Sport 2 CBS, Univision, TUDN — —
Streaming BT Sport fuboTV, Paramount+ DAZN Stan Sport

    UK: The match will be available on BT Sport 2 in the UK and streamed on the BT Sport streaming platforms.

    USA: CBS (English), Univision and TUDN (Spanish) will all carry the match and all three channels are also available on fuboTV, which also offers a free trial to new subscribers. Paramount+ will also stream the match.

    Canada: Every Champions League game in Canada is streamed live and on demand via DAZN. 

    Australia: Stan Sport streams the Champions League in Australia.

    Dom Farrell

    Dom Farrell Photo

    Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.