From nerves to awl counterattacks, Man City-ATM ‘mini-championship’ opens up

It was safe to say that the Champions League was played in Seoul. Manchester City and Atletico Madrid were that serious about the game.

Atletico Madrid won 2-1 against Manchester City in the second leg of the Coupang Play Series at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8:40 p.m. on Oct. 30.

In the 21st minute of the second half, Memphis Depay exchanged passes with Angel Correa in front of the City box and cut into the center of the box, where he fired a right-footed mid-range shot to split the City goal. Yannick Carrasco added a second in the 29th minute with a right-footed shot from just outside the City penalty area. City’s Jubeng Dias pulled a goal back in the 40th minute with a header from a corner, but that was as close as it would get.The matchup between the two teams was practically a mini-Champions League. Not only is Man City the defending Champions League champions, but AT Madrid are also Champions League regulars in Spain.

Of course, it’s preseason, so there was a chance that both teams would take it easy and play with less energy. However, that prediction was spectacularly wrong.

With City leading the attack and AT Madrid focusing on defense, there was a lot of nerves on display. In the 15th minute, Cesar Aspilicueta caught Jack Grealish on the right flank of the AT Madrid box, and you could see Grealish reacting nervously and taking it as seriously as he would in a real Champions League match. In the 25th minute, Aspilicueta’s tackle to stop a counterattack left Grealish sprawling.

The game continued to be as fierce as the official game, with City pressing forward aggressively and AT Madrid breaking up passes and launching sharp counterattacks with Griezmann at the center. It was a lively affair, with players from both teams appealing to the referee after each foul, and then came the highlight. 꽁머니지급

In the fourth minute of the second half, an altercation broke out between AT Madrid forward Alvaro Morata and City defender Aymeric Laporte, and emotions ran high, leading to a de facto “bench-clearing” by players from both teams. The situation was quickly defused, but it was surprising to see this level of tension in a preseason game.

Both teams continued to play hard after the substitutions, much to the delight of the packed crowd. City and Atletico Madrid battled it out in what could be considered a mini-Champions League.