Arrigo Sacchi labelled Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid as "boring" and says the Spanish club should have spent money on changing their style of play.

Atleti have become famed for their organised, defensive set-ups in their 11 years under Simeone, and those tactics were again on show in Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City.

Simeone's team failed to muster a single shot in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, making them the first side to do so in the competition since APOEL against Real Madrid in March 2012.

Indeed, since such data was first recorded from 2003-04, there have been only four instances of a side failing to register at least one shot in a single match.

Simeone's tactics have led to plenty of success over the past decade, however, with Atleti winning eight trophies – including last season's LaLiga – while also reaching the Champions League final twice.

While Sacchi respects what the Argentine has achieved, the coaching legend cannot get on board with Atleti's style of play.

"Simeone has achieved many results in recent years," Sacchi, who coached Atleti for a brief spell in 1998-99, told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"There is no doubt that his experience as a player in Italy has influenced him as a coach.

"First of all, don't concede goals and then let's see what happens, let's rely on the talent of some individuals and hope for the best.

"It's true that Atletico have quality elements, but instead of buying players and spending a lot of money, they should have spent the money on changing their style.

"Let's face it: this way of playing is boring for the audience. The fans ask for beauty, they ask for emotions. What emotion can there be in a long ball?"

Atleti have averaged 50 per cent possession in LaLiga this season, which is outside the top 40 among teams across Europe's top five leagues.

For comparison, Man City lead that metric with 68 per cent of the ball per game on average in the Premier League, followed by Atleti's domestic rivals Barcelona (65 per cent).

Atleti's 11,033 successful passes in the Spanish top flight this season, meanwhile, is only the eighth-most, placing them behind the likes of Real Sociedad (11,204) and Celta Vigo (11,653).

Despite his reservations regarding the way Atleti are coached, Sacchi acknowledged that Simeone's men still have a good chance of overcoming City in next week's return fixture on home soil.

"We must be honest, the tie between the Spaniards and City is still open. Anything could happen in the second leg," he said.

"Atletico didn't have a single shot on goal, that's true, but it's not like City had a lot. Apart from [Kevin] De Bruyne's goal, which was beautiful in its build-up and execution, I don't remember many scoring chances.

"It was a challenge for them so it wasn't fun. Atletico didn't want to play football, but City had a duty to do something more to overcome the wall."

Karim Benzema is playing "the season of his life" as Real Madrid team-mates queued up to praise the inspirational captain after his latest Champions League hat-trick.

French frontman Benzema hit all three of his side's goals in their 3-1 victory at Chelsea on Wednesday, the first leg of a quarter-final tie over which Madrid now have firm control.

That performance in London saw Benzema advance to 37 goals and 13 assists in 36 games this season. His goal involvements total of 50 puts him top of all players from Europe's top five leagues, with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski second on the list with 49 involvements (45 goals, four assists).

Ten of those goals from Benzema have come in his past four games, with Champions League hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea sandwiching LaLiga doubles against Real Mallorca and Celta Vigo.

When he was absent against Barcelona due to injury, Madrid looked lost without their talisman and were thumped 4-0 in El Clasico.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel sounded a despondent note after the game, warning of the danger of his team being destroyed in next week's second leg if they deliver another lacklustre display.

But Madrid were delighted with the outcome, with star defender David Alaba raving about the 34-year-old Benzema's match-winning turn.

"What he's doing this season is incredible," Alaba said after the game. "I can see how hard he works, and he's having the season of his life, he's very focused and is hungry to score goals. He prepares very well for every game, particularly matches like tonight's. I'm delighted to have him as a team-mate."

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spoke of Madrid's "important result" and pinpointed the hat-trick hero, saying: "To go far in the Champions League you need a player like Benzema."

The win at Stamford Bridge will have resonated around Europe, with LaLiga leaders Madrid chasing a 14th European Cup/Champions League triumph this season.

Two early headers from Benzema put Madrid in firm control, before he spurned the chance of a first-half hat-trick when firing wide shortly before the break.

The veteran former Lyon man made up for that miss when he seized on a shocking pass from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to fire in Madrid's third in the first minute of the second half.

Brazilian midfielder Casemiro said it was important to acknowledge Benzema is going through a special phase in his career.

"Firstly, we've got to talk about Karim’s magic," said Casemiro, quoted on Madrid's official website.

"We simply have to continue to enjoy the player that he is, we appreciate his quality and the player that he is, but many people only see his goals and we see his quality, the type of person he is, and it's extremely important for us that we continue to enjoy having him.

"It was a whole team effort, in terms of the effort, reading the game, knowing how to play, and I think that we understood the game well."

Thibaut Courtois defended Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy after his error gave Real Madrid a two-goal lead in their Champions League quarter-final tie.

Chelsea had rallied after Karim Benzema's sensational quickfire double put Madrid 2-0 up at Stamford Bridge, with Kai Havertz responding shortly before half-time.

But the Blues' hard work was undone almost immediately after the interval, as Mendy's slack pass to Antonio Rudiger invited a challenge from Benzema, who was then able to fire into an open goal to complete his hat-trick.

It was Mendy's first error leading to a goal in the Champions League and only his third across all competitions in two seasons since joining Chelsea.

Although Chelsea had 57.3 per cent of the possession and 20 shots to Madrid's eight, the home side could not hit back again and now face a huge uphill task in the second leg in Spain.

Mendy at least had the sympathy of former Chelsea man Courtois, his opposite number in the Madrid goal.

"The problem if you make a bad pass as a goalkeeper is that there's no one behind, they steal the ball and score," Courtois said.

"He shouldn't be blamed, but a mistake by a goalkeeper is talked about a lot."

As much as 37.5 per cent of the game was played in Madrid's third of the pitch, but Chelsea created chances worth just 1.35 expected goals, even if Courtois would have been more comfortable with the visitors playing further upfield.

"We defended well," he said. "Maybe at times we were too deep and they took advantage of that to create chances. We have to improve on that and move the defensive line a bit higher up.

"We have to make sure we play well in the return leg."

Courtois should find a more supportive crowd in that return leg, having been jeered by the Chelsea fans on Wednesday in his first match back at Stamford Bridge in front of supporters.

The Belgium keeper left Chelsea for Madrid in a €35million transfer in 2018.

"Obviously it's a Champions League game, it's not a friendly," he said of the response.

"I didn't like how my departure from the club was explained, but I think I had really good moments at Stamford Bridge and I've got very fond memories of my time at Chelsea."

Carlo Ancelotti is as impressed by Karim Benzema's leadership and personality as his outstanding goalscoring exploits after another dominant Champions League display.

Benzema became the fourth player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive performances on Wednesday.

The France forward netted all three Real Madrid goals in their 3-1 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final, having also hit a treble against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 second leg.

This was the first hat-trick against Chelsea in any European competition and moved Benzema to 11 goals for the campaign – the most by any Frenchman in the European Cup or Champions League in a single season.

Benzema has 37 goals across all competitions in 2021-22, but the two headers that gave Madrid a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge have to count among his best.

Now 34, Benzema has never scored more in a season – 32 in 2011-12 was his previous best – but head coach Ancelotti sought to highlight how important he is to the team in other ways. The striker wore the captain's armband in the absence of Marcelo on Wednesday.

"Karim improves every day like a fine wine," said Ancelotti, who returned to the touchline after testing negative for coronavirus.

"He's more and more of a leader in the team, in the group, and I think that's the biggest difference. He shows his personality more, he knows that he is very important to us and he is an example for all."

This was a fourth consecutive win in matches against reigning European champions for Madrid, but Ancelotti warned against complacency heading into the second leg in Spain.

"The team played very well, it was a very good performance. We were brave, we showed personality," he said. "But we are only at half-time in the tie.

"We'll want to have the same approach when we come back, but you never know how it's going to go.

"Obviously, we have the advantage, but the tie is still open. Without the away goal rule, it's an advantage for Chelsea.

"I think we played better than them on the night, but there is still one game and anything can happen."

Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann admits his side deserved to lose their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Villarreal on Wednesday.

Arnaut Danjuma scored the only goal of the game in the eighth minute, and only wasteful finishing prevented the hosts from taking a greater lead to Germany for next week's second leg.

The result marked the first time Bayern have failed to score in a Champions League game since February 2019 (0-0 v Liverpool), ending a run of 30 consecutive games in which they had scored at least once.

While Nagelsmann accepted Villarreal were deserving winners, he still believes his side have what it takes to turn it around in the reverse fixture.

"We deserved to lose. We weren't good today. In the first half, we lacked power in defence and had too few chances," he told DAZN.

"The second half was a completely wild game. We gave up control because we were desperate to score.

"I think they could have scored a few more goals against us, but it was 1-0. We have not played a good game today in all aspects. 

"But it's only 1-0 and we have to show another side of us in the second leg; we know how to do it and I think we will."

Asked where it went wrong for his side tactically, Nagelsmann pointed to a lack of intensity down the flanks.

"It's a typical match against a Spanish team, who have good players and make few mistakes," he added. "They have quality with the ball. 

"On the wings we were not intense and we lacked penetration; we did not do the diagonals well either. Nothing worked for us and we had few chances. We deserved to lose."

Bayern have failed to progress from each of their last five ties in the Champions League knockout stages when they have lost the first leg, with four of those five eliminations coming against Spanish teams (Barcelona in 2014-15, Atletico Madrid in 2015-16 and Real Madrid in 2016-17 and 2017-18).

Thomas Muller, who failed to have a single shot in his 62 minutes on the pitch, knows Bayern have to improve dramatically if they are to end that run and book a spot in the last four.

"We failed to deliver the match we wanted," he said. "Offensively, we didn't have the energy; we didn't create many chances and we lacked the explosiveness. 

"We accept this 1-0. If it had gone wrong, the score could have been higher. 

"We have seen that Villarreal is not an opponent we can walk against, contrary to what some media said. We have to prepare for the second leg and take our revenge."

Real Madrid's plans for the transfer window before the start of next season are far from a secret. Their sole aim will be to ensure they do what many expect, and lure Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer after his contract expires.

If anybody was in any doubt of their ambitions, Karim Benzema reaffirmed them this week.

"Kylian Mbappe could be the third star with Vinicius and me? Yes, I say this a lot of times," Benzema told L'Equipe of his France team-mate.

"With Mbappe we get on well because we know what the other is going to do on the pitch. It's perfect."

But on Wednesday's evidence, Los Blancos may not even need to add Mbappe to their ranks to regain the Champions League.

Indeed, the argument for Madrid as a team ready to reclaim what they see as their rightful place atop European football is an increasingly compelling one after Carlo Ancelotti's men took a commanding 3-1 lead in their quarter-final tie with holders Chelsea.

It was the ruthlessness of Benzema that put the Blues to the sword at Stamford Bridge, Madrid clinically taking advantage of the passivity of opponents whose exertions in going seven games unbeaten in normal time in all competitions amid a club crisis appear to be rapidly catching up with them.

Madrid followed Brentford, 4-1 winners at the same ground last Saturday, in slicing through a Blues defence who had conceded just two goals in their last five games prior to being stung by the Bees.

Chelsea could take some solace in suffering at the hands or, in this case, the head of Benzema in the first half. His pair of deft headers to put Madrid 2-0 up inside 24 minutes were of the highest quality, coming from Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric crosses that were themselves worthy of great admiration.

And, with Kai Havertz halving the deficit, making this fixture the first Champions League knockout game to see three headers scored in the first half since Bayern Munich versus Porto in the 2014-15 quarter-final, Thomas Tuchel's men could afford reason for hope.

Chelsea's confidence may have been boosted further when Benzema skewed a gilt-edged chance for a hat-trick wide late in the opening period but, soon after the restart, he had his treble, courtesy of a huge inadvertent assist.

Edouard Mendy came way out of his goal to collect an innocuous punt forward and sent his attempted pass to Antonio Rudiger short. A grateful Benzema intervened and rolled a simple finish into an empty net.

It marked a second successive Champions League hat-trick from Benzema, following on from his remarkable second-half barrage against Paris Saint-Germain that knocked out Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi at the last-16 stage.

He became the fourth player to score a hat-trick in back-to-back Champions Leagues appearances after Cristiano Ronaldo (2017), Messi (2016) and Luiz Adriano (2014).

This latest prolific display, which took Benzema to 37 goals and 50 goal involvements for the season, was in part a product of his enduring brilliance and partly a mess of Chelsea's own making.

But it means he is now on a run of scoring at least two goals in each of his last four goals for Madrid. The only other player to score a brace in four consecutive appearances in the 'big five' European leagues this season? Yes, Kylian Mbappe.

There is no striker at this level in a richer vein of form than Benzema and, should he continue his incredible run, the mission for Mbappe if he does make the anticipated move to Madrid may not be to re-establish their European superiority, but to maintain it.

Arnaut Danjuma scored the only goal of the game as Villarreal edged past an out-of-sorts Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday.

The Yellow Submarine, playing in their first last-eight tie since the 2008-09 season, started superbly and opened the scoring inside 10 minutes courtesy of Danjuma's sixth Champions League goal of the season.

Francis Coquelin had an effort ruled out for offside and Gerard Moreno struck the post as Unai Emery's side dominated at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Julian Nagelsmann's side scarcely looked like finding a leveller and they will have to improve dramatically in next week's return fixture if they are to progress to the last four.

Villarreal's electric start was rewarded in the eighth minute when Danjuma steered home Daniel Parejo's mis-hit shot from six yards.

Coquelin found the back of the net with a looping cross that caught Manuel Neuer out shortly before half-time, yet the Bayern goalkeeper's blushes were spared thanks to a VAR review that showed the Villarreal midfielder had been marginally offside.

The Bundesliga leaders were well off the pace in the first half and went in at the break having failed to register a single shot on target.

Serge Gnabry flashed wide shortly after the interval, while at the other end Moreno struck the base of the post with a dipping strike from 25 yards. 

Moreno went agonisingly close to a breathtaking goal on the hour mark, the Spain international whipping just wide from inside his own half after a sloppy pass from Neuer – the closest either side came to a goal in the final 30 minutes.

What does it mean? Dismal Bayern punished

Bayern were red-hot favourites to secure a first-leg advantage in Spain, yet a combination of slapstick defending and toothless attacking left them with work to do back in Germany next week.

Emery's men were outstanding and will be disappointed not to have given themselves a healthier lead to take to Bavaria, given the quality of the chances they created.

Danjuma maintains hot streak

Danjuma's sensational season in the Champions League continued with another goal here. The Netherlands international now has six goals to his name – more than any other player for the club in a single campaign in the competition.

Subdued Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski cut a frustrated figure up front for Bayern, taking just 29 touches – the joint-lowest of any Bayern starter – and managing just two shots.

What's next?

Both sides are in domestic action on Saturday before next week's second leg, with Bayern hosting Augsburg and Villarreal at home to Athletic Bilbao.

Andrew Robertson laughed off having lighters thrown at him during Liverpool's win over Benfica, quipping "maybe it will help them stop smoking".

Liverpool won 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon on Wednesday, thanks to goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz.

However, late in the match, Robertson had objects, including lighters, directed his way from the stands while he lined up to take a corner.

Robertson took the incident in his stride, though insisted such examples of abuse must not be tolerated.

"I had quite a few lighters thrown at me – maybe it will help them stop smoking," the Scotland international joked in an interview with BT Sport.

"You've got to take the positives. We've seen it a lot, people getting hit, luckily they were all quite close to me but they didn't hit me.

"It's tough when it's late in the game and the fans are frustrated but you should not throw stuff onto the pitch. It could hurt people.

"I was just trying to take the corner and get out of there as quick as possible."

Robertson certainly had the last laugh, with Liverpool able to take a comfortable lead back to Anfield for the second leg.

The left-back was typically crucial to the Reds' attacking play, creating a joint game-high three chances, along with Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, including an assist for Konate's opener.

His nine crosses also led the way in the match, with six of those coming from open play.

Liverpool have now won each of their last eight away games in all competitions, their longest ever such winning run in the club's history.

Given Liverpool have also progressed from 12 of their previous 13 Champions League knockout ties when winning the first leg, Jurgen Klopp's team look good to go on and reach the final four.

Real Madrid will be boosted by the presence of head coach Carlo Ancelotti against Chelsea on Wednesday following his recovery from coronavirus.

Ancelotti contracted COVID-19 last week and was absent for Madrid's 2-1 win at Celta Vigo at the weekend.

The former Chelsea boss was also expected to miss a return to Stamford Bridge in the first leg of Madrid's Champions League quarter-final.

But a Madrid statement on the morning of the game announced Ancelotti was travelling to London to join his squad following a negative test result.

"Real Madrid C.F. is pleased to announce that our coach Carlo Ancelotti has returned a negative result for COVID-19," the statement read, "and will therefore travel to London this morning to join up with the first team."

Madrid, knocked out of last season's competition by Chelsea, will be looking for a first win against the Blues in six attempts.

This fixture sees the Spanish giants' worst winless record against any opposition in European competition.

However, no English team have previously eliminated Madrid from the knockout stages of the Champions League on multiple occasions.

Pep Guardiola spoke of the "massive influence" that Kevin De Bruyne brings to Manchester City after the Belgian's winner on his 50th Champions League appearance for the club.

City snatched a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg of the quarter-final against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, with De Bruyne rifling in from substitute Phil Foden's pass in the 70th minute.

The 30-year-old playmaker was heavily involved throughout, but it had looked like being a frustrating night for him before he finished off the excellent throughball from Foden.

Moments before the goal arrived, as Guardiola made a triple change that saw Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus enter the action, the manager called De Bruyne over to the touchline.

He passed on a word of wisdom or two, and almost in a flash City hit the front in the tie, finally breaching an Atletico defence that had manfully held out against heavy pressure from the hosts in rainy Manchester.

City had 70.5 per cent of possession and Atletico were credited with no shots at the home side's goal. Still, the tie could yet change in Madrid, and City will be thankful talisman De Bruyne, one yellow card short of suspension, was not booked for hacking down Joao Felix in the first half.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone described City as "possibly the best team in the world", but the respect between the superstar coaches is mutual.

"It was a difficult game against a tough opponent," Guardiola said.

He said City were lacking "the right rhythm" at times in the second half, which spurred him to make the changes.

Guardiola said: "It's a good result fortunately. At the end we had one or two more chances with Kevin to score more goals, but even 1-0 or 2-0 to go to Madrid it is always difficult. But good result, we won the game."

Turning his thoughts to De Bruyne, the midfielder who had to hustle as a false nine for a large chunk of the game, Guardiola said: "I think he's in the best moment of the season right now.

"He's sharp, he's quick, he's positive, his influence on our game is massive. He made an exceptional goal in the combination with Phil."

De Bruyne had a game-high five shots, forcing Jan Oblak into a fine save from one free-kick before the goal arrived.

Foden's vision and slick pass to find De Bruyne's run was admirable, almost lifted from the De Bruyne playbook.

"He has a special quality. His first steps are massive," Guardiola told a news conference. "He had the composure to make an incredible assist to Kevin.

"We knew it in the beginning with Gabriel and him, when our game was a little bit flat they could change it when [Atletico] were a bit more tired. With Jack, we could continue to control the game. We did it and they were brilliant."

Guardiola said City needed a presence in attack, with Atletico defending in two lines of five, effectively giving up the idea of scoring themselves.

They had a couple of breaks towards goal, but Ederson was largely a spectator.

"They defend so well, so compact, and so deep," Guardiola said.

"We need the talent like Phil has shown. We were patient because you have to be against these type of teams. They want to be getting you anxious and nervous. You get disorganised a bit and they punish you up front because they have top, top players. They have incredible quality up front.

"They are so good and if you are not attacking in the right way they punish you."

Looking to the second leg next week, Guardiola added: "We will go there not to defend the result, but to try to win the game.

"We have to control our emotions and do what we have to do. They have faced this kind of knockout stages many times... more than us. It will be a good test for us and our maturity in this game."

Rival boss Simeone said he had planned for City to have Foden on the pitch from the first whistle.

The Atletico head coach, who has led his side to two Champions League final defeats, said: "We expected him to play as a starter because he is a very dynamic player.

"He came on in the second half, and any of the three who came on have different characteristics. In the same way that they talked about being patient at half-time, waiting for their moment, we also waited for it. With different weapons, we were both looking for the same thing."

Simeone will now plot for Atletico's home leg, when they will have to show more attacking verve, which could open gaps for City to exploit. City have a tough Premier League assignment to come first when they face title rivals Liverpool on Sunday, and that may help Atletico.

"You always have to come up with something better," Simeone said. "It's a long match, divided into two parts, here and at home. They don't care, they'll play the same way. They're possibly the best team in the world. But with humility we'll compete."

Jurgen Klopp has revealed he expected nothing less than the stern examination Liverpool were given en route to a 3-1 win at Benfica.

The Reds took control of the sides' Champions League quarter-final tie with victory in Portugal but the game was far less comfortable than the scoreline perhaps suggests.

The hosts created a string of chances after Darwin Nunez had halved the deficit early in the second period and were somewhat unfortunate to concede a potentially decisive Luis Diaz goal late on.

However, the challenge posed by Benfica certainly did not surprise Reds boss Klopp, who said: "In the end, coming here in an away game in the Champions League is tough. Obviously, Benfica fought for their lives. 

"We opened the door a little bit too much but they deserved the goal as well, even when we could have defended probably better. It's not that had absolutely no situations before.

"It was a tough game, what I expected, especially when they scored the crowd was there immediately. We knew it, we always know it, 2-0 is nothing, it's nice but not more. 

"They scored the goal and it was much more open than we wanted but, in the end, we should have scored [more] in the first half, could have scored in the second. 

"They played a really good game but the goalie was anyway the best player, he made a couple of really good saves. That's it, we won it, two goals up, half-time, not more, not less, let's keep going."

Klopp went on to provide a positive update on midfielder Fabinho, who was involved in a nasty clash of heads with Nicolas Otamendi in the final minutes of normal time.

He added: "Fabinho has a little cut – he's fine. It is a cut in the back of his head. It will need a bit of time but he should be fine.”

The German also refused to get overly excited about Liverpool's chances of progression to the semi-finals, insisting Benfica will remain dangerous at Anfield.

He continued: "It's half-time, we have a much better result than before, we know much more about the opponent. 

"They will go for it again, they won at Ajax and ground out all the results they needed in the group stage.

"We are aware of the quality and now we have a nice game in between [against Manchester City] but then we will be ready again for Benfica."

Great art will typically have its back to the wall, and for an hour on Tuesday it was a great artist who stood with his back to a red wall on a rainy night in Manchester, unhappy with his lot.

A promising exhibition was turning into a soggy mess as Kevin De Bruyne had his visionary brushstrokes stripped of their customary colour, the false nine lacking his usual lustre.

But then the narrative flipped, and a 50th Champions League appearance in City colours for this wonderful Belgian footballer had its masterpiece, a finish any genuine number nine would admire from substitute Phil Foden's delicious pass. One-nil, and that was how it stayed, a fine result from a taxing evening.

City manager Pep Guardiola had joked about the perception that he can "overthink" in big games in the build-up to this tussle, and he fooled those who cooked up the team sheet that reckoned on De Bruyne occupying a wide-right midfield role.

Of course he cropped up there at times, on the left too, and at times in the centre of midfield, but De Bruyne spent just as much time as the further City man forward, chasing lost causes, closing down, doing the donkey work.

This latest landmark appearance for City – coming so soon after his 200th Premier League appearance for the leaders on Saturday – ended in triumph where it could have been frustration, or been worse.

You see, sometimes great artists do silly things, like slicing off an ear or headbutting Marco Materazzi, and when De Bruyne chopped down Joao Felix in the 34th minute to cut short an Atletico counter-attack, it looked like being a costly error.

A yellow card was surely coming, and with De Bruyne already a booking away from suspension, City would have lost him for the second leg of this tie. Referee Istvan Kovacs kept the card in his pocket and an incredulous Diego Simeone, the Atletico head coach, had to be asked to cool it by the man with the whistle. Simeone might be known for his histrionics, but this seemed eminently excusable.

De Bruyne has entered the imperial phase of his City career, with records and landmarks stacking up alongside trophies. But the Champions League is the trophy City and De Bruyne want now, and it is the obdurate brilliance of teams such as Atletico that they must find a way past to reach that goal.

When Guardiola substituted Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in the 68th minute, bringing on Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, he called De Bruyne over to the touchline too, passing on a word or two of advice. De Bruyne had seen a free-kick well saved by Jan Oblak, but was otherwise being stifled, and when he was not being stifled he was looking thoroughly fed up in the rain.

Barely two minutes after the Pep talk and the goal arrived, local lad Foden with a pass from the gods and the finish doing it justice.

De Bruyne came into this game having made more assists in the Champions League than any other player from an English club since his City debut in the competition in September 2015. To those 17 assists – only Neymar (25), Kylian Mbappe (20) and Angel Di Maria (18) have had more – De Bruyne has now added 11 goals.

Five of his previous 10 had come from outside the box, but this was a striker's goal, running in behind and lashing into the left corner.

A head injury forced De Bruyne to abandon last season's Champions League final, and City will want to be sure he is present and correct should they get through to the showpiece again.

A tricky second leg awaits them next week at the Wanda Metropolitano, then potentially a semi-final. But De Bruyne's strike was as admirable as City's persistence against an Atletico side who repeatedly got every man back inside their final third at the behest of their strutting boss, and it was the sort of result that had the home fans at the Etihad Stadium dreaming once again.

During the international break, De Bruyne and wife Michele took 24 hours away in Paris, and it will be the French capital that stages the Champions League final in May.

City might be there. De Bruyne's time, City's time, might be coming.

Liverpool took control of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Benfica as they claimed a hard-fought 3-1 win in Portgual.

Jurgen Klopp's side looked to be cruising into the last four after first-half goals from Ibrahima Konate and Sadio Mane gave them a deserved half-time lead.

However, Benfica were back in it when Darwin Nunez netted shortly after the restart, and they continued to threaten an equaliser before Luis Diaz wrapped things up in somewhat fortuitous fashion late on. 

The signs of the hosts' potential were evident in an encouraging start that came about thanks in no small part to a fervent crowd at the Estadio da Luz.

A fast-paced early break from Rafa seemed to hint at how Benfica might trouble their opponents and Nunez soon followed suit to provide a low cross that deserved better support.

But Liverpool, too, were creating chances and eventually took one when Konate rose highest in space to head home an Andy Robertson corner.

That marked the start of utter domination from the visitors, who double their tally just past the half-hour mark when Diaz nodded down a beauty of a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass to hand Mane a tap-in. 

Alexander-Arnold almost created another goal just before the break, an incredible pass on the turn putting in Mohamed Salah for a one-on-one that he should have done better with.

Given the one-sided nature of the first half, it did not feel like Liverpool would rue that miss, but it took just four minutes after the restart for Benfica to totally change the complexion of the game.

They visitors looked wide open even before Konate's miscued back-post clearance allowed Nunez all the time in the world to side-foot home and ignite the atmosphere once more.

Nelson Verissimo's men were subsequently transformed and went close again through a Nunez header before Everton shot straight at Alisson when he perhaps should have found a corner.

That flurry of opportunities prompted Klopp to look to his bench, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota emerging all at once to try and settle things down.

The trio partially succeeded in their aim, although they weren't capable of entirely negating Benfica's threat on the break, or silencing cacophony that greeted their every burst forward.

However, unaided by any mistakes similar to that which allowed Nunez to score, the hosts failed to find a second goal.

And they were hit by a late sucker punch when a heavy deflection on a Naby Keita through-ball allow Diaz to round Odisseas Vlachodimos and pass the ball home.

Thibaut Courtois does not anticipate Carlo Ancelotti's expected absence to be a problem for Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Ancelotti tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and was absent for Los Blancos' 2-1 win at Celta Vigo on Saturday.

He is anticipated to be unavailable again when Madrid face his and Courtois' former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. 

As of Tuesday, Ancelotti was still testing positive - preventing him from making the trip to London - though the Italian could travel if he returns a negative test on Wednesday.

Speaking about playing without Ancelotti's guidance, Courtois told a media conference: "Luckily, his assistant is his son, so it's quite similar!

"But, there's a complete and good staff there, and it has been possible to have a video call with him.

"As for his absence from the dugout, I think the coaching staff did very well in Vigo and I don't think it'll be much of a problem here."

Chelsea knocked out Madrid in the semi-final stage en route to lifting the trophy last season.

The Blues won the return leg at Stamford Bridge 2-0 to claim a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

However, with the second leg this time around taking place at Santiago Bernabeu, Courtois is hopeful of Madrid producing a different result provided they can head back to the Spanish capital still alive in the tie.

Madrid produced a stunning turnaround at the Bernabeu to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16; Karim Benzema scoring three times in 17 minutes to give them a 3-1 win on the night and a 3-2 aggregate victory.

"It's a new season," Courtois added. "Last season was different since it was semi-finals and later in the season, there were no fans then, and it was the second leg that we played away.

"We saw in the last round how we pulled off a comeback at the Bernabeu. We want to bring this tie back to the Bernabeu, too.

"The [scrapping of the] away goal rule changes it a little. We saw that in the last round when the 2-1 turnaround had already earned us at least extra time, even though we won 3-1 anyway.

"Before, we'd have known that we needed three goals. I think that's a good rule change."

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel is not concerned about Andreas Christensen's commitment to the cause at Stamford Bridge.

Centre-back Christensen was a crucial part of Chelsea's success under Tuchel last season.

However, the Denmark international is out of contract at the end of this season and so far no extension has been agreed.

According to reports, a move to Barcelona is already lined up, with Christensen thought to be one of the players Joan Laporta referred to when he confirmed that the Catalan giants had secured the signings of two out-of-contract players for next season.

Christensen last featured against Lille on March 16, having been left out for what Tuchel explained as tactical reasons on Saturday, when Chelsea were thrashed 4-1 by Brentford.

The 25-year-old's future was brought up in Tuchel's news conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid, with the issue of a potential lack of commitment mooted.

"No. No concerns," Tuchel replied. "Maybe it is a bit more challenging for him than normal, in a moment where everything is clear or you're fully committed to the club you play for, which is us and Chelsea.

"Maybe he cleared his future, I don't know it yet, but for me it was very clear when I started, and the bottom line in conversations I had with him was that as long as you're my player I expect you to be 100 per cent committed and I will not accept anything less.

"I will not start digging into how committed is he now, this only leads to distraction. This is what I demand from him. That he was out on Saturday was only a tactical choice to play with a back four.

"He is our player and we want to have the most of him. He needs to be focused, he needs to be determined, and this is what we expect from him. And I think it is what we can expect from him."

Christensen has featured 26 times in all competitions for Chelsea this term, starting seven games out of the eight the Blues have played in the Champions League.

While it seems likely this season will be Christensen's last at Chelsea, Tuchel has no ill feelings towards him.

The German does, however, believe that Christensen should remember the opportunities he has had to develop at Chelsea.

"The situation of the club was pretty sure. I think I gave you an honest statement that he is in exactly the right place for his journey," Tuchel said.

"That he could continue with this club and become the defender that he can be, the real personality and the playing minutes figure that he wants to be.

"In my opinion, he shouldn't forget where he comes from, where his education comes from, where is home and that's just my opinion. He needs that kind of environment to bring the best out of him.

"That's just my opinion and I gave it some weeks ago but the talks in autumn and the summer were constant talks. We are in exchange with our players of course. I hope that my talks didn't make him want to leave but I don't think so.

"You cannot take these things personally. If he decides to take his career elsewhere, it is his decision. We understand it, maybe we don't need to agree. We will not take it personally.

"As long as he is our player, he is our player and I will not stop demanding from him. He needs to be fully, fully committed, this is what we expect and have experienced. You will have to ask him about his decision and what the reasons are."