Atletico Madrid have started cranking up the mind games ahead of next week’s second leg with midfielder Koke aiming an icy blast at Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City manager touched a nerve when he described Atletico’s ultra-defensive tactics as being difficult to deal with.
City found it tough to break down the Spanish champions, until Phil Foden went on as a substitute and delivered the killer pass for Kevin De Bruyne to establish a slender lead ahead of the second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano next Wednesday. The Blues dominated possession but a combination of well-organised defending and a little skulduggery kept them at bay for most of the game.
Guardiola said afterwards of his opposite number Diego Simeone: “He has put (Antoine) Griezmann on the far right and Joao Felix on the far left, and they have gone 5-5-0. Two lines of five. And in prehistory, today and in a hundred thousand years, attacking a 5-5 is very difficult. It is that there is no space. Apart from the fact that they are very competitive and defend very well, there is no space.”
