Stones was one of the star-performers for Man City at Wanda Metropolitano and the central defender deservedly won the Man of the Match award for the evening.
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Manchester City defender John Stones was full of praise for his teammates after the hard-fought 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday. The Premier League side went through to the semifinals of the competition with a 1-0 aggregate win courtesy of Kevin de Bruyne’s goal at Etihad Stadium last week. Stones was one of the star-performers for Man City at Wanda Metropolitano and the central defender deservedly won the Man of the Match award for the evening.
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Who deserves the award? ?
? https://t.co/yqtrHt3uV2? Luka Modrić
? Raúl Albiol
? Kostas Tsimikas
? John Stones@PlayStationEU | #UCLPOTW | #UCL pic.twitter.com/DV9QRcgSdh— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2022
Meanwhile tensions boiled over in the closing stages at Wanda Metropolitano as Felipe fouled Phil foden. Stefan Savic tried to pick the injured Foden up off the floor, which caused the scuffle. Atletico defender Feilpe was sent off after receiving two yellow cards before the teams played out 12 minutes of added time. Video footage from after the game showed that the brawl continued into the tunnel.
Stones told BT Sport: “We know that they sometimes try and make things happen like that and we dealt with it really well.
“It is not nice to talk about and I don’t want to dwell on it because over the two legs we played incredible against such an experienced side in what they do. We kept our tempers and it is easy to get drawn into stuff like that.”
“We knew it was not an easy place to come, it is a hostile environment, it was a difficult night all round and how we defended and controlled ourselves over the two legs was incredible,” he added.
Foden had a tough night as he was targeted twice by Felipe, but the English youngster showed great character to stand firm and put in a shift for his team. It was Foden’s assist from which De Bruyne scored the decisive goal in the first leg.
Stones said of his City and England teammate: “Phil (Foden) was such a threat in both games, instant impact in the first and how he drove us up the pitch tonight, gained yards and free-kicks – I think he is feeling it now.”
The back four of Man city along with defensive midfielder Rodri were brilliant on the night to thwart Atletico Madrid’s intense and physical game. Centre-back Stones was the star performer alongside Aymeric Laporte.
Stones was calm when needed, aggressive, won everything in the air and was the most authoritative member of Man City’s back four. Moreover, the 27-year-old was positionally sound when full-back Kyle Walker was out of position.
Man City will face Real Madrid in the Semifinal later this month. Meanwhile before that, the Premier League leaders have a FA Cup final against Liverpool coming up in three day’s time.
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