First Atléticothen Liverpool
Receives on Tuesday City the Spanish champion Atlético Madrid to the quarter-final first leg in the Champions League. On Sunday it’s against him FC Liverpool to a potentially decisive game in the fight for the championship in England.
City-Trainer pep Guardiola but his complete focus will initially be on the game against Atlético and the showdown with his trainer Diego Simone place. The Argentine brought Guardiola in the 2015/16 season one of the biggest defeats in his coaching history when Atlético the big favorites Bayern Munich in the semifinals of Champions League eliminated from the competition.
2015/16: Guardiola fails with Bayern Atlético
Guardiola had done without Thomas Müller in the first leg in Madrid, which later brought him a lot of criticism. The 1-0 win in the first leg was more decisive Athleticos but Simeones Tricks with which he successfully fought Bayern. He brought four central midfielders into the centre, with whom he unnerved the playfully superior Bayern on a particularly unkempt pitch.
In the second leg in Munich, Bayern played one of the best games of their trip Guardiola – and still eliminated. Xabi Alonso had put the German champions in the lead, Antoine Griezmann met the only dangerous counterattack by the Spaniards to make it 1-1. When Robert Lewandowski scored about a quarter of an hour before the end to make it 2-1 for the superior Bayern, it seemed Atlético to collapse.
“Worst game I’ve ever seen”
“I couldn’t believe what I saw”said Simeone later. “We couldn’t cross the halfway line.” Midfielder Koke described it as that “Worst game I’ve ever seen”Diego Godin as “a severe kind of suffering”. And yet she defended Simeone–crew the narrow advantage of the away goal to the finish and made it into the final. Simeone then said: “I have to say I played against the best team I’ve ever met as a coach. It was a wonderful one FC Bavaria. But we took the pressure off and won the game.”
Guardiola then switched to after the season Manchester City. on Atlético he has not been met since. The Atlético of today is certainly not as strong as it was then, defensive heroes like Godin are no longer in the team. In addition, must Simeone on the injured defensive stabilizer Jose Gimenez waive.
Atlético has found his way back to Simeone football
but Simeone would not be Simeone, if he did not know the answers to such problems. Although his team no longer has the individual skills it once had, he has obviously stabilized his team’s game in recent weeks. Four of the last eight games has Atlético won without conceding, two of the last three ended in a 1-0 for Atlético. One might think: Atlético does so gradually again Simeone-Stuff: close rooms, defend closely with great effort.
Which, by the way Manchester United last found out. In the round of sixteen Champions League met United on Atlético and failed classically. While things looked good in the first leg in Madrid after a 1-1 draw, the Rangnick team failed in the second leg Simeones proven defensive tactics. Atlético progressed with a 1-0 away win. pep Guardiola will have watched closely.