Diego Simeone believes Atlético Madrid will have to improve on the performance that knocked out Manchester United if the Spanish champions are to beat Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Simeone’s side are at the Etihad Stadium for Tuesday’s first leg, having knocked United out 2-1 on aggregate in the previous round, their 1-0 victory at Old Trafford in the second leg proving decisive.
The Argentinian was asked about what will be required to progress. “United had different characteristics,” he said. “They are a lot more direct, a lot quicker. City are more positional – they manage things very well all over the pitch. We’ll have to be better than we were three weeks ago.
“What I like most about teams like City is the strength and effort they put into winning the ball back and continuing to attack. They’re lovely to watch. They continue evolving. They have great players. [Raheem] Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, they’re always active, they always run. They never leave a ball lost. That’s additional to their talent. All managers want that.”
Asked if the pressure is greater on City because they are one of the tournament favourites, he said: “I don’t know if pressure is the correct word. It’s a bit exaggerated. Each one of us has it. City possess extraordinary players. They have better players than us, I am sure.
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“But there are two games to play. City and Bayern [Munich] are favourites because of their players but last season Chelsea won [the competition] – not many expected that. All of us who are at this point want to win it. You have to compete.
“City and Madrid have great squads. They’ve got a lot of personality and tomorrow is for the players. We try to help them so they can respond in the best way possible. We’re going to play where we think we can hurt them. The way we’ve been playing for years. We’ll see.”
