Atletico Madrid vs Man City: City Receive Major Squad Boost Ahead of Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg

Atletico Madrid vs Man City: City Receive Major Squad Boost Ahead of Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM
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  • Manchester City have the advantage in the quarter-final ahead of a clash against Atletico on Wednesday, April 13
  • City emerged 1-0 winners the last time out amid claims Diego Simeone’s side played with a 5-5-0 formation
  • Pep Guardiola has been boosted by the return of Kyle Walker while Atletico also have Yannick Carrasco back in contention to start

Atletico Madrid will be looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they take on Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final leg on Wednesday, April 13.

Colchoneros welcome the Citizens at the Wanda Metropolitano with the hopes of coming up with a performance that is better than what they displayed in England a week ago.

Atletico Madrid vs Man City
Diego Simeone and Pep Guardiola during their respective teams' league games over the weekend. Photo by Alex Caparros.
Source: Getty Images

Diego Simeone’s side was thoroughly criticized for what many termed as ‘anti-football’ tactics as they failed to register a single shot on target at the Etihad last week.

Manchester City were thoroughly frustrated but eventually found a breakthrough via Kevin de Bruyne with less than a quarter of the game to go.

Team News, Atletico Madrid

In terms of team news, Diego Simeone has been boosted by the return of Yannick Carrasco, who was out of the first leg through suspension.

The biggest setback for Atletico will be the absence of defender Jose Gimenez, who will miss out due to a calf issue. Otherwise, Diego Simeone has a fairly potent squad to choose from.

Here is Atletico’s possible starting XI:

Oblak; Savic, Felipe, Reinildo; Vrsaljko, Llorente, Koke, Lemar, Lodi; Griezmann, Felix

With attack likely to be the message from Atletico fans, Simeone will likely bring back Joao Felix to the starting XI along with the likes of Renan Lodi and Sime Vrsaljko.

Team News, Manchester City

City have injury concerns as well, Ruben Dias still struggling with a hamstring issue, while Cole Palmer will miss the game with a foot concern.

But Kyle Walker is set to return from a European ban but will likely battle for a starting place with Nathan Ake, who impressed as a make-shift left back.

Manchester City’s possible starting XI is:

Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Ake; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling

Villareal sinks Bayern Munich

In the other Champions League quarter final tie, Villareal stunned Bayern Munich out of the competition as Unai Emery’s side progressed 2-1 on aggregate.

Samuel Chukwueze scored a late winner in the tie just as the game looked like it was meandering towards extra time.

Villareal will now face either Liverpool or Benfica in the semi-final.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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