Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City: 'I'm proud of my team-mates,' says Atletico's Koke after the Champions League exit

Atletico Madrid crashed out of the Champions League after losing the two-legged quarter-final tie 1-0 against Manchester City. The second leg at Wanda Metropolitano  finished 0-0 on Wednesday and Man City went into the semi-finals courtesy of Kevin de Bruyne’s goal in the first leg. It was a hard-fought encounter as Diego Simeone’s side went all guns blazing, but Man City managed to keep a clean sheet and go through to the next round for only the third time in their history.   

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All over in Madrid. pic.twitter.com/UzVWoZfm13

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) 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, while the ex-City defender was also seen trying to headbutt Raheem Sterling and pulled Jack Grealish’s hair. Atletico defender Feilpe was sent off after receiving two yellow cards before the teams played out 12 minutes of added time.

“The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time,” the Atleti captain said in a post-match interview.

“Many times we are criticised for this situation, but today it was them. Let’s see what people think of this. Today it has been seen, we are Atletico de Madrid and I am proud of this team.

“I’m proud of my team-mates for the effort. I have nothing to reproach the team with. I’m proud of everyone and the fans, who have lost, stayed to applaud us after the game. This is Atletico.”

Video footage from after the game showed that the brawl continued into the tunnel. UEFA says it will wait to receive reports from the referee and match delegate before deciding whether to open disciplinary proceedings.

Asking for his views on the incident, Atleti boss Diego Simeone said: “I didn’t see it. I stayed on the pitch applauding the fans and saying hi to everyone on the pitch. So by the time I went upstairs everyone had gone.”