Diego Simeone says Atletico Madrid will have to play even better against Manchester City than when they knocked out Manchester United three weeks ago.
Atletico beat United 1-0 at Old Trafford to advance to tonight's Champions League quarter-final first leg against City. But Atletico boss Simeone reckons his side will have to play at a higher level if they are to get the better of Pep Guardiola's Premier League leaders.
"United have different characteristics than City, who are a lot more direct and quicker,” said Simeone. “In all areas of the pitch they manage things well and I think we will have to be quicker and more direct in the things we need to do than we were three weeks ago.
“We are playing against really tough opponents, who press high and flood the box with players. We're going to use our characteristics, the way we have played for years, and play where we think we can hurt them. City have extraordinary players. I'm sure they have better players than us. City and Bayern Munich are the favourites, because of the characteristic of their players. But last season Chelsea won the Champions League and not many people expected that.”
Back in February, former United captain Roy Keane singled out Simeone as a suitable candidate to become the next permanent manager at Old Trafford. "Maybe Simeone, he’s the right kind of character," he told the Overlap Live event. "He’s having a difficult spell with Atletico. His race has maybe run with them. Simone, go and get him, he’s a big character. He’s done great things.
"He’s a great character, a big personality. He doesn’t mess around with players. Maybe someone like him coming into the club, could work. It can soon change. I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom, there’s still good things going on at United, but they’ve got to get the manager. If the manager is not right, then the rest will just fall apart."
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To reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, Simeone will now have to get the better of Guardiola, whose prediction about the Argentine has come true after he left a lasting impression on the Spaniard at Barcelona.
"He came to training and we talked - how do you come out, how do you pressure up or in the middle, how do you attack in small spaces, whatever," Guardiola told an Amazon Prime documentary.
"And he said something that was good and useful and eventually shows Cholo's personality. We talked and he says 'I don't feel it, I don't like it'. That's when I said 'wow, this motherf***** will be good'."
