Man City 1-0 Atletico Madrid - 5 things you might have missed: De Bruyne milestone & on-field arguments

Manchester City hold a slight advantage over Atletico Madrid following Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.

The Sky Blues won 1-0 at the Etihad thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s well-taken second half goal in what was a tight and tense affair.

It was the Belgian who was the standout man after the break and drove Pep Guardiola’s men to a well-deserved win over the Spanish champions.

But even in such a high-profile game, there are plenty of unseen moments which can pass TV viewers by, and we’ve rounded up five things that you may have missed from the Etihad.

De Bruyne’s European milestone

It was De Bruyne who turned the game on its head in the second period, with his cross-field passes, positional sense and direct dribbles.

Then there was obviously the goal, which the Belgian did brilliantly to slide it just past Jan Oblak from a narrow angle.

For De Bruyne, it was a performance fitting of a milestone night, with the midfielder making his 50th Champions League appearance for City.

Guardiola and Stones feud

It wasn’t always an easy watch for Pep Guardiola on Tuesday, as his side struggled to break down Atletico’s well-organised defence.

The Catalan was evidently frustrated on several occasions, and it was John Stones who bore the brunt of that.

The pair exchanged words a few times in the first half, with the City manager seeming to want the No.5 to move the ball quicker. Stones took umbrage with Guardiola’s final criticism and clearly argued back.

But from then, Guardiola appeared to be more guarded with his tongue and loudly applauded Stones at least twice for passes which actually missed their target.

Simeone’s touchline antics

As is expected with Champions League games involving Diego Simeone’s side, there were a few on-field clashes throughout the match.

One in particular which drew a reaction from the Atletico manager was when De Bruyne fouled Geoffrey Kondogbia in the first half.

Simeone was furious not to see City’s star man booked, and made sure to let the referee and fourth official know his views on the matter. It’s perhaps not a surprise his complaints were so vociferous, with De Bruyne a booking away from a suspension in Europe.

Grealish’s rough introduction

The substitutes changed the game in more senses than one in the first leg. While Atletico’s seemed to weaken them, City’s certainly made the hosts stronger.

Phil Foden set up the goal, Gabriel Jesus was more of a presence up front, but it was Jack Grealish who came away as one of the game’s big talking points.

That’s due to the rough treatment he received from Atletico, and three players were booked for fouls on the winger, despite him playing a little over 20 minutes.

In that time, Grealish won five free-kicks for fouls committed on him, more than anyone else on the pitch.

The visitors purposefully targeted the wideman, and Sime Vrsaljko and Stefan Savic were seen flicking his hair at one point, and clearly felt Grealish had made a meal of the challenges on him.

The ex-Aston Villa captain even had to be shepherded away at the end by Fernandinho, who acted as peacemaker after the full-time whistle to avoid a melee involving both sets of players.

Ateltico’s ‘crazy’ Angel

The incident involving Grealish which resulted in the most furore was when Angel Correa hacked him down and then booted the ball at his chest, which then flicked up and hit City’s No.10 in the face.

The home bench were furious, with Guardiola himself having words with Correa. The Spanish journalists in the stadium claimed the former Barcelona manager called the forward ‘loco’, which means crazy, following the altercation.

However, in his post-man press conference, Guardiola refused to be drawn on it, claiming it was an issue for the referee to deal with.