On Wednesday night, there were two UEFA Champions League matches in the same time slot. While Liverpool were mostly settled in the tie against Benfica in Spain, despite enjoying a one-nil advantage, things never looked easy for Man City.
At the Metropolitano Stadium, it was a tough 90-minute battle for Pep Guardiola’s men as they faced strong resistance from the host. Although Diego Simone was criticized for his conservative approach in England, he took very important information away from home to adjust his tactics in this leg – his side gave the opposition a very hard time.
This tactical analysis explains how Atlético Madrid were able to improve from the last performance and made Man City suffer.
Lineups
In this game, Atlético Madrid abandoned the 5-3-2 of the last game when the team was without the ball. There was only one change, which was Marcos Llorente playing as the right wing-back ahead of Šime Vrsaljko, and Thomas Lemar, who didn’t start at the Etihad Stadium came into the midfield.
As for Man City, the good news was Kyle Walker returned to the starting lineup after suspension, so João Cancelo could fit at the left-back position. Another change from Pep was resting Raheem Sterling on the bench as he made way for Phil Foden, he played as the striker initially. Then, Bernardo Silva played on the left flank as a winger.
