62 Tuesday April 5 2022 | the times
SportChampions League
in the same way. The main lesson they
will have taken is that Atletico don’t
change their set-up. They did not
change how they approached either
game, so this tie against City won’t be
decided in today’s first leg at the Etihad.There is not one key player who will
decide this for City. Riyad Mahrez is
their top goalscorer with 22 goals this
season, but Raheem Sterling or Phil
Foden could be match-winners. Guard-
iola is not reliant on one individual.Guardiola is yet to win the Champions League as manager of Manchester City,
who also host Liverpool in a crucial Premier League fixture on Sunday afternoonCRAIG BROUGH/REUTERSthen hit back, winning 4-1 on aggregate.
Perhaps it is because they have over-
come such setbacks that Guardiola and
his players are so Zen this time around.
“The team is much better prepared
for these moments than it was five years
ago,” Silva, 27, said. “We know what to
do in the good or bad moments. It
comes with experience.”
Silva said he was not expecting an
“open game” against the Spanish
champions, who eliminated United in
the previous round.
Atletico are a compact team with a
fierce work ethic. John Stones and
Aymeric Laporte will be pressed
ferociously by Atletico’s strikers, João
Félix and Antoine Griezmann.
That City have scored more than
twice as many goals as Atletico in the
Champions League this season proves
that Diego Simeone’s side are not as
attack-minded as their opponents.
It would be wrong to say that Atletico
will put ten men behind the ball for
90 minutes, however. In the first leg
against United, Atletico launched wave
after wave of attacks and should
have been 3-0 up by half-time.
“There is a misconcep-
tion about the way he
[Simeone] plays,” Guard-
iola said. “It’s more
offensive than people
believe.
“He doesn’t want to
take the risk in the build-
up, but they have quality
and play really well in the
final third.”
The onus will fall on City’s wing-
ers, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, to
prevent Atletico’s wing backs from
receiving the ball from Jan Oblak, the
goalkeeper, or the opposition’s centre
backs, who sometimes lack the compo-
sure to play out from the back.
The absence of the Uruguay defend-
er José María Giménez is a blow for
Simeone, whose side have won their
past six games, but City have absentees
too. Rúben Dias will miss tonight’s
match and Sunday’s top-of-the-table
meeting with Liverpool with a ham-
string injury, while Kyle Walker is
suspended.
Simeone rates City as one of the
best teams in the world. “City have
extraordinary players,” the Atletico
head coach said. “They have better
players than us, but there are two
games to play. They were the favour-
ites in the final last season and
Chelsea won. Not many expected that.”The biggest fortnight of Manchester
City’s season has begun.
If they play at their best in the double
headers against Atletico Madrid and
Liverpool, City will be well on their way
to securing a Treble that has been
achieved only once before, in 1999,
when Manchester United swept all
before them.
Should City slip up, however, Pep
Guardiola will be facing the prospect of
ending the campaign without any
silverware — a scenario that has played
out only once during this golden era for
the club.
With so much at stake, Guardiola
would be forgiven for feeling a little
tense, but that was certainly not the
case yesterday. The 51-year-old Cata-
lan was instead in a playful mood before
tonight’s Champions League quarter-
final first leg against Atletico.
Rather than take offence at a mis-
chievous yet fair question about his ap-
parent tendency to overcomplicate his
tactical approach to knockout games,
Guardiola laughed off the suggestion.
“I overthink a lot,” Guardiola said,
his tongue pressed firmly
against his cheek. “It’s absolute-
ly [fair]. My job would be boring
if I had to win the same way all
the time. I love to overthink
with stupid tactics, and if I
don’t win I look stupid.
“I will take inspiration
and do incredible tac-
tics. We’ll play with 12
[players] tomorrow.”
Some of Guardi-
ola’s left-field selec-
tions in the
Champions League
have not worked, such
as the deployment of Il-
kay Gundogan on the
right wing in the 3-0
defeat by Liverpool four
years ago and the deci-
sion to play without a
holding midfielder in
last year’s final.
In fairness to
Guardiola, some
tactical tweaks have
worked, such as the switch to
4-4-2 in the away win over
Real Madrid two years
ago, and his decision to
play on the counter-
attack in the quarter-
finals against Paris
Saint-Germain last
season.
Bernardo Silva said
Guardiola had devised a
plan to get past Atletico over
the two matches — the second
leg is next Wednesday in Madrid
— although the Catalan hu-
morously suggested otherwise.
“It surprised me a lot that
Bernardo said we have a plan
because we didn’t speak
about it,” Guardiola said
with a smile.
After being eliminated in
the quarter-finals for three
consecutive seasons, City
looked to be heading out of
the competition at the same
juncture last year. City were
35 minutes away from losing to
Borussia Dortmund on away
goals but they scored twice in
the second half to advance. In
the following round, City
went behind against PSG, buthSimeone admits his Atletico
side lack City’s star qualityMan City v
Atletico Madrid
Champions League
quarter-final, first leg
Kick-off: 8pm
TV: BT Sport 2Contrasting styles
How sides compare in Champions
League this seasonGoalsTotal shotsShots on targetShot conversion (%)Expected goalsGoals concededShots facedShots on target facedExpected goals againstManchester
CityAtletico
Madrid2321107119129136 8251 2553 8821 3317% 11%Paul Hirst Man City v Atletico Madrid
(5-3-2)
Atletico MadridManchester City
(4-3-3)Kick-off 8pm. Etihad Stadium
TV: BT Sport 2 Radio: BBC 5 LiveRef: I Kovacs (Rom)EdersonJ OblakJ Cancelo J Stones A Laporte N AkéR Lodi M LlorenteReinildo S SavicB Silva Rodri K De BruyneR Mahrez P FodenJ GrealishA GriezmannFelipeJ FélixR De Paul G Kondogbia KokePep turns Zen master for tensest
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Contrasting styles
How sides compare in Champions
League this seasonGoalsTo tal shotsShots on targetShot conversion (%)Expected goalsGoals concededShots facedShots on target facedExpected goals againstManchester
CityAtletico
Madrid2321107 119129136 8251 2553 8821 3317% 11%6
Goals scored by Riyad
Mahrez, City’s top scorer
in the Champions League
this season. He has
contributed 26 per cent
of their total in the
competitionCity will still create despite Simeone’s stifling tactics
co Madrid is a clash of tactical styles,
but these are two teams who are com-
pletely in tune with their manager.
We’ve heard Guardiola speak about his
frustration at teams sitting back, and
Atletico, under Diego Simeone, are
probably the best at doing that. They
are used to their opponents enjoying
more possession, but City are the best
at a possession-based game. Each team
play to their strengths, but that will
make this tie exciting.
To beat City, a team has to be at their
absolute best. We saw that in last year’s
Champions League final against
Chelsea, where all of Thomas Tuchel’s
players were outstanding. Atletico will
have to frustrate City and be content
with not having the ball. City will have
to be wary of the counter and Simeone’s
pragmatism — they break up play and
use the crowd as much as possible.
Guardiola will analyse Manchester
United’s defeat by Atletico in the round
of 16, but City and United don’t operatePep Guardiola has been criticised for
supposedly overthinking important
Champions League ties in the past. I
think he’s going to be seen that way
until he wins the competition with
Manchester City, but it’s what makes
him who he is. The fact that he thinks so
much about every game is why we
enjoy watching City. It’s unfair to say he
overthinks it when the result doesn’t go
his way and we have to remember this
is the Champions League — these are
the best players and the best coaches, so
nobody has a divine right to win.
City’s quarter-final tie against Atleti-
Atletico always play
the same way but they
can be broken
down, writes
Joleon Lescott
Having said that, Bernardo Silva
could make a huge impact, as he is argu-
ably the player of the season. Guardiola
has referred to how some people fixate
on statistics for goals and assists with
creative players, but Silva’s importance
goes beyond that. His ten goals and four
assists do not place him near the top of
either chart for City, but he is as impor-
tant as any player in this team.
City face a crucial Premier League
match against Liverpool on Sunday but
I don’t think they will prioritise one
competition over the other. Competing
for every honour provides another
incentive for the players.
I expect City to go through because
they create more. Atletico fashion few-
er chances so need to operate at a great-
er efficiency. If City create 20 chances
across the two legs, you’d expect them
to score three or four goals; Atletico
may only create two to five chances.- BT Sport is the exclusive home of Uefa
Champions League football