MX23RW : Sunday, November 17 08:27:01| >> :120:19614:19614:

Pep Guardiola on CL draw: 'We have to be clever to beat Atletico Madrid'

Guardiola on CL draw: 'We have to be clever to beat Atletico'
© Reuters
Pep Guardiola believes his Manchester City side will need to be at their best if they are to beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals next month.

Pep Guardiola believes that his Manchester City side will need to be at their best if they are to beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.

After beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16, the Citizens will now test themselves against Diego Simeone's men, who progressed to the last eight courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate victory over Manchester United.

Since the draw was made on Friday morning, Guardiola's has heaped praise on Simeone, suggesting he will 'never be sacked' by the La Liga holders, and he believes it will be difficult for his City team to impose their style on their Spanish counterparts, with a clever approach required to defeat them.

"Simeone won't be sacked, all the players know who is the manager. If it doesn't work, no manager can sustain a team like Atletico. Everybody knows what is their path and what they have to do. They were incredibly consistent last year," Guardiola told reporters at at press conference.

"They went through an incredibly tough group stage with Liverpool, Porto and Milan and the game against United over 180 minutes they were better. Second leg away, more complicated, but the best eight teams are in Europe, all draws are difficult.

"We will try, knowing it will be difficult to impose our game against them. We have to be clever, we know they will have it, have the chances to score.

"It doesn't matter if we play another opponent, it would be difficult too. We go to a nice stadium, incredible stadium and we go to try and reach the semi-final, hopefully they are worried to play against us."

Man City, who have never faced Atletico before, will host the first leg at the Etihad Stadium on April 5 before travelling to the Wanda Metropolitano for the second leg on April 13.

ID:481150:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect2375:

Click here for more stories about Pep Guardiola

Click here for more stories about Manchester City

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates scoring their second goal with Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden on March 6, 2022
Read Next:
Who could Man City face in the Champions League quarter-finals?
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Packers
@
Bears
6pm
Raiders
@
Dolphins
6pm
Colts
@
Jets
6pm
Jags
@
Lions
6pm
Rams
@
Patriots
6pm
Browns
@
Saints
6pm
Ravens
@
Steelers
6pm
Vikings
@
Titans
9.05pm
Seahawks
@
49ers
9.05pm
Falcons
@
Broncos
9.25pm
Chiefs
@
Bills
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!