Atletico madrid
Man City see off Atletico in fiery clash to reach semifinals
Kevin De Bruyne's first-leg strike last week at the Etihad Stadium proved enough for City to claim a 1-0 victory on aggregate in Madrid, although the Belgian...
The loss leaves Diego Simeone's side just a point in front of Real Betis in the table after Betis had earlier come from behind to beat Cadiz 2-1 thanks to a late penalty from Borja Iglesias.
Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City's patience after Kevin De Bruyne broke Atletico Madrid's stubborn resistance to clinch a 1-0 win in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.
United now face an uphill task just to get back into the Champions League next season as an under-performing squad filled with star names sits fifth in the Premier League.
Atletico outplayed a sluggish United for the majority of the match at the Wanda Metropolitano and might have considered Joao Felix's early goal scant reward heading into the second leg at Old Trafford in three weeks' time.
PSG had initially been paired together with Manchester United but the reworked draw sees them play Real while the Old Trafford side will face Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.
PSG will be at home in the first leg in February in a tie that will see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo come up against each other.
Diego Simeone's Atletico, who lost to Real Madrid in the 2014 and 2016 finals, needed to beat Porto in Portugal to advance to the knockout phase and they duly triumphed 3-1 in a game which featured three red cards.
A goalless draw at home to Benfica last month left Barca with their destiny in their own hands, but with a much trickier final game away to Group E winners Bayern Munich.
Manchester City beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Wednesday but both clubs qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, along with Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Sporting Lisbon.
Liverpool are now guaranteed to top the group, sitting seven points clear of Porto with two games remaining, while Atletico are another point back in third.
Liverpool play Atletico again in the Champions League on Wednesday in a game that this time carries more significance for the Spaniards than the Reds.
Much of the night's drama happened at the Wanda Metropolitano in the Spanish capital where Mohamed Salah scored another impressive goal, twisting away from a string of Atletico defenders before his shot deflected in off James Milner to open the scoring.
The 30-year-old, who scored 133 goals in his first spell with Atletico, has rejoined on a one-year loan deal with an option to extend by another year, Atletico said.
The 25-year-old has signed a contract until 2023 as she earns a move following an impressive 2020/21 season where she scored 10 goals in 21 matches in the Primera Division.
Manager Diego Simeone said Atletico's success was a triumph for strength in adversity and that, in a season when nothing was normal, his team had adapted better than the rest.
If they beat Real Valladolid on Saturday, they will be crowned champions for the first time since 2014 and few could argue given they will have been top of the table since December.
Atletico could still be crowned champions this weekend if they overcome Osasuna and Real Madrid fail to win away at Athletic Bilbao but the Spanish title race has been full of surprises and still nothing is guaranteed.
Six Premier League teams - Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham - are involved, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.