Guardiola refuses to be drawn into Atletico Madrid’s comparison
Oviri Kelvin, Sports Editor, Abuja
Ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League encounter with Atletico Madrid, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola plays down any form of superiority between both clubs.
He acknowledged the Spanish champions as a good team, tactically sound in approach, and are very offensive.
Guardiola noted that one of the reasons he overthinks is to bring out crazy tactics that will help the team in his Champions League campaign.
The Trumpet gathered that the City manager went further to describe the approach adopted by Diego Simeone’s men as aggressive in the build-up of every game but avowed to upset them with stupid tactics.
Guardiola, in City’s press conference, said: “Everyone tries to win the games. If they win, they will be right, if we win, we are right.
“There are lots of styles in this game, mainly based on the quality of the players. This team is the champions of Spain.
“There is a misconception about the way Simeone plays. It’s more offensive than people believe. He doesn’t want to take a risk in the build-up but they are very good in the final third.
“They are so competitive. It depends on the movement of the game and they know how to play at the exact moment.
“They are a very rich team tactically. What can we do to annoy them? That’s what we will do tomorrow and next week.”
“In the Champions League, always I overthink,” he said.
“I overthink a lot, that’s why I’ve had very good results in the Champions League.
“That’s why I overthink and create stupid tactics. Tonight I’ll find inspiration and do incredible tactics tomorrow. We’ll play with 12 tomorrow!”
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“I didn’t invent football and I’ve never scored a goal or saved a penalty as a coach.
“I wish I was that important. What we’ve done at Barcelona and Bayern and here, Johan Cruyff and Carles Rexach also did at Barcelona,” Guardiola said.
Manchester City welcomes Atletico Madrid tomorrow to Etihad to slug it out in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
