Sacchi attacks Simeone: “Catenaccio from the 60s, what football is this?”

Arrigo Sacchi didn’t like the match between Manchester City and Atlético at all. The coach criticized both the colchoneros and their catenaccio, as well as those of Guardiola, unable to create much danger despite having dominated the clash. The Italian, talking to ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’commented on what happened in the first leg of the Champions quarters: “To improve you have to study, learn, and it is much easier to draw a wall in front of the goal, without worrying about the offensive phase”.

Simeone: “He achieved great results and I think his experience in Italy has influenced him: the first thing is not to lose, and then we see what happens. Instead of signing players and spending so much money, Atlético should have bought a game. Anyway, the tie is still open.”

City: “Atleti didn’t shoot on goal, but City didn’t do much either. I don’t remember many chances beyond the goal, which was very nice. It wasn’t a fun game: Atleti did not want to play football, but City had an obligation to do something else. If not, it is enough for the teams to put ten men in front of the goal to not concede goals. They had to attack the spaces more. I told Pep: ‘If your team plays at high tempo, looks for depth and stands out with the right times, it’s unbeatable. But…’. Coaches should have the courage to change when something doesn’t work.”

Catenaccio: “That way of playing tires the public, which calls for beauty, emotions. Gullit asked me why we didn’t try to cross and score goals with our heads and I told him no, if by bad luck we score a goal, then we’ll always play like that. No I wanted. At Euro 2000, I was in the stands next to Skin during the Netherlands-Italy match, which we won after having spent the entire game on defense. The Brazilian told me: ‘A pity, they have good players, but they don’t know how to play football’. Behold, Atleti does the same thing: defense, defense and defense”.

Athletes: “They have a catenaccio from the 60s, an old idea: what football is this? It doesn’t give you joy even when you win. You win without deserving it, only with cunning. I don’t like it and it surprises me that the Spanish, people accustomed to beauty of football, accept it. Simeone has important moral values, he is a leader, he should do more, believe more in himself. Only the one who does it without becoming smug can be improved.”