Diego Simeone famously described his uncompromising playing and management style as: "Playing with a knife between the teeth."
For Simeone, every game is a battle, one in which every weapon must be utilised in the pursuit of victory, however ugly and unedifying. This was one such game for Simeone and his Atletico bandits, one in which their game-plan was to dig in and try to thwart City, in the hope the hosts made an error from which they could profit.
Atletico adopted a policy of containment from kick-off, happy to defend deep and allow City all the possession, relying on the defensive discipline and diligence instilled in them by Simeone to frustrate Pep Guardiola's side. Yet, even by Simeone and Atletico's belligerent standards, this was a particularly taxing assignment, one that
