Champions League: Atlético against City, the duel of styles between Guardiola and Simeone continues

Published on: 04/13/2022 – 07:27 Pragmatism or fair play? Beaten 1-0 in the first leg, Diego Simeone’s ultra-defensive Atlético Madrid is counting on the fervor of its public to overthrow Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and reach the semi-finals. The debate is as old as football: is it important to offer a polished, forward-looking game and an innovative tactical plan or, on the contrary, to bet on fervor and aggressiveness, the “grinta” dear to Latin Americans? ? The duel between the Argentinian Diego Simeone, renowned for his tight and efficient Atlético de Madrid, and the Spaniard Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City capable of mobilizing the ball to harass the opponent, represents the quintessence of this inherent opposition to the ball round. Close to thwarting the schemes of the cerebral Guardiola before giving in in the quarter-final first leg (1-0), Simeone is now betting on the fervor of the Metropolitano stadium, where Atlético have never lost a Champions League knockout match , to try to dismiss the 2021 finalist. Objective: bring Atlético back to the C1 semi-finals for the first time in five years. “It’s not pretty to see, but it’s effective” And too bad if Atlético were criticized for their tactical reluctance after the first leg: this is how the Madrid club reached two Champions League finals (2014, 2016) and won two Europa Leagues (2012, 2018) under the orders of Simeone. “Maybe it’s not pretty to see, but it’s effective,” summed up Frenchman Thomas Lemar, midfielder of Atlético, in an interview with AFP on Monday. .Part (at least 5,000 seats) of the Madrid stadium will be closed on Wednesday, on the orders of UEFA, which sanctioned the club because of “discreet behavior riminatory” of some Spanish supporters. A video broadcast by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca shows Spanish supporters giving a Nazi salute during the first leg at the Etihad Stadium. The enclosure (68,000 seats in normal times) should however be boiling Wednesday evening in Madrid, where City and “Atleti” are preparing for a tough and fiery match. Between the two legs, the “Citizens”, finalists of the last edition, were hooked 2-2 by Liverpool in a duel at the top of the English championship on Sunday , while the “Colchoneros” were surprised 1-0 at one of the promoted La Liga players in Mallorca on Saturday. Everyone may have had their reunion in mind, during which Atlético should remain faithful to their defensive hermetic first leg and watch for counterattacks in the wake of Antoine Griezmann. “They played with two lines of five!”, commented Guardiola after the narrow success of the first leg. “In prehistory, today or in 100,000 years, attacking against two lines of five will always be very difficult.””It’s a feisty team”Known for its boundless motivation and for its ability to federate its group around him, Diego Simeone will have to, once again, touch his players in their pride to transmit to them his thirst for victory. “He does not need to give us advice (on the mental aspect, editor’s note). His speech, his way of speaking, his frankness, that allows us to surpass ourselves”, summarized Thomas Lemar. And the French environment to recall the aggressiveness of the former Argentinian international milieu. “Did you know the player? Well, that gives Atlético the image now. This is what he wants to pass on to us, not to rest on our laurels”, supported Lemar. Specialist in incredible comebacks, Atlético has often been able to find the resources in badly started matches this season in La Liga: against Valencia in January (3-2), against Getafe in February (4-3)… And if they needed a reference, the “Rojiblancos” can look in the rear view mirror: in 2016, during the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Barça of the “MSN” of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, heir to Guardiola and reigning European champion, the “Colchoneros” lost 2-1 in the first leg… before winning 2-0 on the return leg to reach the semi-finals (they ended up losing in the final 1-1, 5-3 on pens against Real Madrid). Same phase of the same competition, same r evers outside on the first leg, same feeling of impossible… and same result, Wednesday? With AFP