Manchester, United Kingdom, ap. 4, 2022 (AFP) – The clash between Pep Cardiola’s Manchester City and Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid for the European Champions League quarter – final brings two coaches face to face with completely different views. Thirst for success.
The script of the fight is already written in a simple statistic and seems concise: holding the ball.
By all accounts, City have an average of 67% ownership, while Atletico have only 48%, up from 41% if you count the Champions League games alone.
The first game in Manchester this Tuesday will be a lengthy clash of defense against attack, considering the style of the coaches.
Watching the pass transfer game to engage Cardiola’s opponent against the Compact Block waiting for the best opportunity to counter-attack from Simeone will be a whole plateau for those who like tactics.
However, Cardiola rejects this humanism.
“I’m not going to waste a single second with these meaningless discussions. I’m never evaluating what the other person is doing. We are doing what we have to do to win,” Spaniard told a news conference on Tuesday.
Strangely, conflicts between technicians are not much, but they serve as a warning to the city.
Under Barcelona, Cardiola won his first clash with Simeone, who arrived in Atletico in 2012 for the Spanish Championship.
While he was in Bayern Munich, the Spanish player was eliminated by the ‘Colconero’ team in the 2016 Champions League semi-final.
Bayer dominated both games of the game, owning 68% of Atletico’s seven and 34 shots, but fell short of the qualifying goals (1-0 win by the Spaniards at home and 2-1 by the Germans at Munich).
“I could not keep my teams playing like this. I could not. But I appreciate it. This flexibility. Sometimes the bee will sting you,” Cardiola said in a recent documentary about Simeone produced by Amazon Prime.
“This is a game that makes you think: it’s not possible, it can not be true. We can not even cross the midfield,” the Argentine coach recalled.
Despite not being Atletico City’s worst opponent on paper, the draw was met with tremors in Manchester.
“They are what they are, but how you want to be is what prevents you. That is the main quality of Atletico,” Cardiola said succinctly.
The Spanish coach stressed that being in the return game Madrid makes his team’s task even more difficult and that despite the differences he has some points in common with Simeone.
“If he doesn’t want to give up goals, I like it less. If he wants to win games, I like it more. If he wants counter-attacks, it’s like me.”
Argentina, for its part, have shown great admiration for Cardiola, although he acknowledges that the Spaniard’s working style does not match the way he views things.
Unaware that there was not much room for beautiful play on Simeone’s team, Cardiola knew football well: “If they win, they will be right, if we win, we will be right”
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