Manchester Metropolis have a slender lead from the primary leg of their Champions League quarter-final after Kevin De Bruyne's seventieth minute objective earned them a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

It was a outcome Metropolis needed to eek out in opposition to an Atletico aspect who had clearly travelled to England with the goal of merely denying Pep Guardiola's aspect alternatives and who failed to supply a single shot on the right track.

Diego Simeone's outfit had annoyed Metropolis all through the primary half with their deep mendacity defending and reliance on solely the occasional counter to threaten the hosts.

Metropolis rotated the ball with their typical experience and made it troublesome for Atletico to push out from their deep defensive formation, whereas by no means over-committing themselves.

However the Premier League champions have been unable to show their whole dominance of possession into clear possibilities with Aymeric Laporte having probably the greatest alternatives after the break, however the defender's header from a nook was off course.

Atletico's uncommon breaks served as a reminder to Metropolis that they needed to preserve some self-discipline, though when the Spaniards did trend a gap Marcos Llorente failed to check Ederson.

Metropolis saved their form and moved the ball nicely nevertheless it took the introduction of substitute Phil Foden for the house aspect to search out the lacking ingredient.

Foden, who got here on with Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, drew three defenders in the direction of him earlier than splitting the Spanish rearguard with a wonderfully weighted move to De Bruyne who slotted previous goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a side-foot end.

De Bruyne then had area for an additional try on objective, which was nicely blocked by defender Stefan Savic's outstretched foot.

The second leg can be held on the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid subsequent Wednesday however earlier than then Metropolis have an important conflict at dwelling to Premier League title rivals Liverpool on Sunday.

HARD TASK

De Bruyne mentioned it had been troublesome to interrupt down a workforce enjoying with such numbers behind the ball.

"It's extremely onerous. They performed with virtually 5 on the again and with 5 in midfield. I like to recommend anybody that claims something ... that they fight enjoying in opposition to that on the coaching floor.

"We now have to remain composed and don’t attempt to get into their motion. It's the manner they play. One nil is one nil. I count on comparable over there. If the sport is tight they should assault just a little bit extra," added the Belgian.

Guardiola was happy with the way in which his aspect had approached the competition.

"We performed an unimaginable prime aspect who're troublesome to face however it's a good outcome," he mentioned, whereas praising his gamers for avoiding among the potential flash-points within the sport.

"It isn't straightforward to face a workforce with lots of expertise on this event. We are going to go there to attain and try to win once more," he added.

Simeone was filled with reward for Metropolis and mentioned the primary half show was largely attributable to Atletico's opponents fairly than his ways.

"We did not play the way in which we needed within the first half, we could not escape. It was a bit higher after the break however Metropolis are the very best workforce on this planet. They've scored so many objectives at dwelling within the latest previous," he mentioned.

"However that is halftime and let's examine how the second sport goes in Madrid".