Critics of Manchester City's 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid should go back to the training pitch, says matchwinner Kevin De Bruyne.
City were frustrated for long periods in their Champions League quarter-final first leg against the Spanish champions, as Atletico defended deep and in numbers to prevent the Blues from getting near Jan Oblak's goal.
It was an approach City will have expected from Diego Simeone's side, and looked to be working until Phil Foden's introduction on 70 minutes. 80 seconds later, Foden fed De Bruyne to break the deadlock and give City a well-earned lead going into the second leg.
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While City may have looked like succumbing to Atletico's relentless defending, De Bruyne says they instead deserve credit for sticking to their task and earning the win their possession deserved.
"It was a very hard game, they play so defensively tight," De Bruyne told BT Sport.
"They're solid, it's their way of playing. We played good in the circumstances , tough to create opportunities. First half was tight, we didn't give anything away. Second half we ad a couple of chances and we took one. I made the run, Phil found me perfectly. I needed to stay composed and luckily I did."
Anticipating some criticism of City's play, De Bruyne insisted that their performance deserves credit across the full 90 minutes.
He explained: "It's very hard, they played almost five in the back and five in midfield. It's very hard to find spaces, I'd recommend to everyone who says something to us in this game to try in the training pitch.
"The way we played was good because we didn't give anything away. We stayed calm and patient. Try to find spaces, you'll lose balls because it's so compact. We had a couple of chances in the second half and managed to take one."
De Bruyne also remained diplomatic when asked about Atletico's attempts to get City players booked, especially after his goal.
"It's the way they play, it's their style," he said.
"We have to stay composed, don't get into the actions or fight with them. It's not the way we are as a team, I think we handled it well as a team. Sometimes it happens but the boys did well.
"1-0 is 1-0. No away goals but I expect a bit similar over there, maybe if the game is tight they have to attack a bit more. We played well and that's the only thing we can do today."
Looking ahead to Sunday's huge Premier League clash with Liverpool, De Bruyne said the focus is now on recovery.
He said: "It's five days until Sunday, both teams played today. It's a big game, everyone's looking forward to it including the players. We have to recover and get ready for Sunday."
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