Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo claimed Manchester City were ‘completely defensive’ in their Champions League win over his side.
The Premier League table-toppers played out a goalless draw at the Wanda Metropolitano to give them a narrow 1-0 win on aggregate in the quarter-final tie, with the match descending into chaos in the final 15 minutes as frustrations boiled over.
Atletico’s Felipe was sent off while his teammate Stefan Savic was incredibly fortunate to follow him back to the changing rooms. The home side did go close to forcing the match into extra-time though, with Angel Correa and Matheus Cunha denied by some last-ditch defending.
After City’s 1-0 win at the Etihad in the first leg, Pep Guardiola referred to “pre-history” as he discussed the 5-5-0 formation Atletico played out of possession, and the Spanish side’s president has hit back following their Champions League exit.
“It was a match that, with a bit of luck, would have taken us to the semi-finals,” Cerezo told Radio Marca.
“We were not lucky enough to score a goal and reach extra time.
“We are a team that has a lot of status so that someone can offend us and in the end it has been shown that everyone has their pre-history. We played a good game, attacking, and City yesterday played pre-history, defending and put a wall in front of their goal so they wouldn’t score.
“Everybody has seen it. City was a completely defensive team. In the second half they shot on goal once. Yesterday it was shown that each one has their pre-history.”
Cerezo was also in no mood to condemn Diego Simeone or the Atletico players for their antics in the closing stages of the match.
“In the sporting and human aspect, Simeone cannot be criticised,” Cerezo said.
“He knows how to be in all situations. He will continue with us, his story is there, he is a winner and will be with us as long as he wants.”
