BARCELONA, 12 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, recognized this Tuesday that they will have to be “solid” in defense if they want to pass the ‘Champions’ tie against an “aggressive” Atlético de Madrid, who will have “more opportunities” compared to the first leg when playing in the Wanda Metropolitano, a “hot” stadium with “strong” support
“Tomorrow it will be difficult to go through to the semi-finals without being solid in defence. We will see the score when there are ten minutes left. Atlético at home will have more opportunities. They have a lot of history. They will be more aggressive and we will adapt and defend when necessary”, Guardiola said at a press conference.
The Santpedor coach stressed the importance of conceding few chances against a rival with a match scheme “different” from the first leg in Manchester. “If you go with Kevin de Bruyne, Ryan Mahrez, Phil Foden or Ilkay Gundogan they are not defensive players, but it is a team effort and you have to be solid,” he admitted.
Guardiola will have all his troops, except for the Portuguese Rúben Dias, who will travel with the team, although he will not play the match. “We’ll see over the weekend, it’s a bit early with the schedule we have,” added the coach.
The Catalan was surprised to learn that the Brazilian Fernandinho will not renew with the ‘citizens’, after admitting it at a press conference minutes before Guardiola appeared. “I didn’t know. It’s a family decision, because of the minutes he has. I would love for him to stay, but these things have to be talked about. Everyone knows he’s a good guy,” he said.
“I know that Fernandinho is a very loyal person and wants to play more minutes. I understand perfectly, I want my players to be happy. We are going to try to play for him tomorrow, to give him the best possible farewell”, Guardiola explained about one of the strongholds of the history of Manchester City.
“CRITICISMS COME WHEN YOU LOSE, WHEN YOU WIN EVERYTHING SERVES”
Asked about Diego Pablo Simeone’s style, Pep stated that “criticism comes when you lose, when you win, everything counts”. Along these lines, he showed his respect for the ‘Cholo’ methodology and that he has been teaching at Atlético de Madrid for a decade.
One of the keys to the match will be the connection between De Bruyne and Foden, as they already demonstrated in the first leg by scoring the only goal of the match. “Phil has the ability to eliminate players and Kevin is good at attacking spaces, although against Atlético it’s difficult,” admitted Guardiola, who explained that this connection did not work in the Champions League final against Chelsea in the previous edition.
Regarding the Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, Pep described him as “crazy”. “Sometimes it seems like he doesn’t feel anything. In his normal life he’s very stable, very calm… Off the pitch it’s different. He doesn’t feel the pressure, he forgets things. You have to forget the last play and he can do that. Normally He does not risk much, but in the event that he fails, he forgets it in the next action,” he settled.