Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City Top Atletico Madrid in UCL Quarterfinal Leg 1

Manchester City are one step closer to the Champions League semifinals after earning a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.

The club will look to close out the quarterfinal tie in the second leg on April 13 in Madrid.

It took a lot of effort for Manchester City to break through in the first leg with Atletico, using a heavy defensive approach, including five in the back. The Premier League club dominated possession but had few real chances on goal, keeping the match scoreless for more than an hour of action.

Kevin De Bruyne finally got onto the scoresheet with a strong finish in the 70th minute:

Atletico Madrid never came close to an equalizer, finishing with zero shot attempts in the match.

Manchester City entered Tuesday as the favorite to win the tournament and showed why once again with a strong performance against a tough opponent. Both clubs are seeking their first European championship despite past trips to the UCL finals.

Despite the talent from both sides, the first half of this tie was underwhelming with the score remaining 0-0.

Manchester City had full control of the match and seemed to be the dominant squad at home:

The heavy possession still didn't lead to much as Manchester City mostly spent time passing around the box.

Atletico Madrid stayed in front and prevented any real chances in the early going.

Though Atletico rarely even had the ball in the attacking half, they had the same number of shots on goal as Manchester City in the first 45 minutes: zero. 

The trend continued early in the second half with the only shot on goal coming from a free-kick.

Following a triple-substitution in the 68th minute, the home team came to life as Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish brought some creativity.

Foden was especially valuable to help set up the goal for De Bruyne less than two minutes after coming onto the pitch:

It was enough to unlock an elite defense from Atletico Madrid.

Foden had other exciting moments, although Manchester City couldn't add to the lead. The forward could be even more important in the second leg, however, with Gabriel Jesus suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

On the other end, Atletico must be more aggressive after getting few looks at the net over 90 minutes. The squad had zero shots, zero corner kicks and only a handful of touches in the attacking third.

The 1-0 scoreline is still enough to keep things close heading into next week.