It is not very often that Manchester City’s defenders get to be the heroes. They are usually the guys who knock it around peacefully at the back, creating the build-up, and then give the ball to the magic men further up the field.
But on a riotous, red-raw night at the Wanda Metropolitano, they shone like beacons amidst the darkness of Atletico’s thuggery and skulduggery. The Spanish champions ended up without Felipe - red-carded for his part in a 20-man bout of shoving sparked by the ill-treatment of Phil Foden, his head still bandaged from the first half smash he took from the same defender’s shoulder.
It was a terrible shame that Atleti felt the need to resort to such unpleasantness because at times in the second half they showed just what a good football team they are, albeit against a City team that ran out of steam after the efforts of Sunday against Liverpool.
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Pep Guardiola made two changes from that game, and that left Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and the rest running on empty after the break. Right from the first whistle, it was clear that this was going to be a better game than last week’s first leg, simply because Atleti could not afford to defend deep and rely on their combination of tough, organised defence and borderline thuggery.
They tried to play their game much higher up the pitch, with Joao Felix and Renan Lodi trying to get in behind City, and the midfield in support. But that simply left space for European specialist Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne to exploit, and with Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez always on their marks to feed off the midfielders, Atleti were regularly stretched.
Their response was to open up their 'Big Book of the Dark Arts', with Felipe, initially jumping squarely with Foden in a one-sided aerial battle, but then turning his shoulder, quite deliberately, into the City youngster to leave him flat out on the pitch.
Foden emerged from that clash as a Pablo Zabaleta tribute act, his head swathed in a bandage, his dancing feet unswayed.
Unfortunately, ref Daniel Siebert is a firm believer in allowing a game to flow, and he did so to the extent of allowing fouls - from both sides - to go unpunished. That was always likely to suit Atleti more than it did the Blues.
The German ref did not even book Felipe, when the only debate was whether it was brutal enough to be a straight red card.
Former City man Stefan Savic, whose previous claim to fame in Manchester was a training ground tackle, in his first session after joining the Blues, that left manager Roberto Mancini in a crumpled heap, was next to leave his mark.
Foden’s twinkle toes were threatening to make him look silly, so he gave the kid a couple of straighteners, and even barged him with the ball five yards off the pitch. No free kicks, no cards.
City were finding their attacking players in space, with Ederson’s remarkable passing from his own six-yard box a feature, but they were not finding it easy to turn that room into goals, with Atleti swarming back in numbers when danger called.
The Blues finally broke that resistance when Kyle Walker’s smart run was found by Riyad Mahrez’s cross, and when he skewered it across goal, Foden retrieved and teed up Gundogan. The Germany star has become deadly in front of goal in the last couple of seasons, but this time he hit the post and neither Foden nor De Bruyne could force successive rebounds through hurtling, blocking Atleti bodies.
Atleti really went for it after the break, showing that they are a good footballing side when they want to be, and they were pressing City high and effectively. Teams have come unstuck doing that to the Blues, but it was reaping dividends as two Joao Felix headers and two Antoine Griezmann shots gave the travelling fans moments of anxiety.
That roused the home fans into even greater heights of hysteria, and their players fed off the fervour.
The huge banner display before the game read “Pride, Passion, Emotion” and Atleti were at last playing with those attributes, while City struggled to regain control.
The Blues are used to weaning opponents down, but with just two changes from the team that played Liverpool three days earlier, they were the ones who started to look leggy.
Guardiola clearly thought so too, and he took off De Bruyne - suffering more than most after another huge effort - and replaced him with the more pacy threat of Raheem Sterling.
Walker was forced off with a knock, with Nathan Ake going on as left-back, and Joao Cancelo switching to right back.
The delay while Walker made his way off gave City a chance to catch their breath.
They defended stoically after that and even gave Atleti a taste of their own medicine after Fernandinho went on to marshal the troops and produce his own brand of dark arts.
Foden theatrically rolled around after a sliding challenge, invoking the wrath of the home players, Savic dragging him off the pitch and starting a melee involving most of the 22 players.
The upshot was that Felipe finally got the red card he had been pitching for right from the start. Savic might have followed had the ref spotted him pulling the hair of City sub Jack Grealish, who had run over to protect his close pal Foden.
It was an unsavoury end to a taut, tense match, but Atleti's filthy attitude got what it deserved - as did City's fortitude.
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