Man City show final missing quality needed to win Champions League vs Atletico Madrid

The last time Manchester City were in Madrid, they produced perhaps their best European performance in the modern era, silencing the Bernabeu and giving themselves the belief they belong among the Champion League's elite clubs.

Much has changed in the two years since, not least because the 2020 win at Real Madrid was City's last pre-pandemic European trip. They have overcome their quarter-final hoodoo, reached their first final, and are now in a second-successive semi-final. The reward for overcoming Atletico Madrid's stubborn tactics is consecutive trips to the Spanish capital and a return to the Bernabeu next month.

In 2020, City sent a message that they are genuine Champions League contenders as they knocked out Zinedine Zidane's all-conquering side, but they failed to build on it. Now, in 2022, their latest Madrid trip shows they are more than just contenders. They are the team to beat.

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These two quarter-final games with Atletico have perhaps been City's toughest test in Europe under Pep Guardiola. Previous exits from the Champions League have been self-inflicted or the results of general inexperience in Europe. And previous statement wins against the likes of Real, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain have all seen City contain an attacking opponent and be clinical in attack.

Against Diego Simeone's Atletico side, they've had to add discipline to the mix against a team barely looking to play much football at all.

That's not to criticise Atletico's approach. It clearly works, and every player buys into Simeone's philosophy. They have knocked out Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona,