On the defensive. As his team stood in the second half of the game to endure a 0-0 draw at Atlético de Madrid over Wanda Metropolitano. This is how Josep Guardiola dealt with journalists after the tie that led Manchester City to the semifinals of the Champions League. “We have no one else”, justified the coach in retreating a team that is accustomed to attacking on any field and against any rival. This Wednesday, sometime, the English cast is quite similar to Atlético that last week he appealed to all of his defensive arts at the Etihad Stadium and that’s why he reaped ridicule of all kinds and colors.

“During the break we talked about it: ‘Now came the worst, the hardest, the strain of Liverpool three days ago, the journey’. And in the second half they overwhelm us. If they scored a one goal, we wouldn’t say that City was classified, but in the first half we were at our level “Guardiola acknowledged at a press conference it was sometimes cruel, where some reporters seemed interested in blaming him for the lackluster image of his team and the DT, who were willing to exchange blows.

When talking about the reasons that pushed his team into this dramatic setback, DT has not spared praise for his rival. “Atlético de Madrid are brilliant. We have no one else. I don’t like defending like that in the second half, but we have no other choice. We’ve been bad and they’ve been very good, they’ve been better. When they have moments it’s in this stadium, they’re almost unstoppable. “he highlighted.

The Catalan coach clarified that I know this meeting was very different from last weekwhere the Spanish team did not even kick the goal once in 90 minutes of action. “They want to attack the Etihad and they can’t because we are good. Now in the first part we were good and in the second they put pressure on us and we forgot to play “he explained. The atmosphere around him was thick..

The tension and search to support the fingers in the wounds did not come from the clash in Madrid. The stylistic feud between Simeone and Guardiola, open or hidden, has been going on for a long time and had one of its climaxes during and after the first leg last week. The ultra-defensive work and the extremely tough behavior of some Atlético players has generated a cataract of criticism for cholosespecially from the British press. Pep said he chose words of praise to speak about his opponent’s work. But this Wednesday many want to collect that bill and he responded by passing him.

“I always say that when (Atlético) is defending very well and everyone is together in the back, it’s hard. It has been like this for many years, it is the same now and many years will pass and it will be the same. They do it like no one else “, he highlights. And he shot at journalists: “You said that the Cholo Simeone cycle was more than three or four months ago. Do not blame me. I always have words of praise for this institution and this team. Cholo knows how to play what he wants ”.

Before entering the press room where he was waiting with a napkin tied around his neck and cutlery in his hands, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach found a more amusing questionnaire about Wanda Metropolitano’s playing field. There they consulted him in the last 15 minutes of the duel, where discussions and brutality prevailed between the footballers and some members of the coaching staff. “I’m speechless”, he replied. They asked him if he had talked to Simeone after the duel. “No,” he answered directly.

When it came time for him to talk about Real Madrid, he was very diplomatic: he said that City’s next opponent in the Champions League would be “the king of competition” and he made sure his players were “in a good level to compete.with them “despite the range of promises the English champion is going through these weeks. “Let’s see how we get there. We’ve come from three very difficult games, people are starting to get tired and the demand is very great.”plot.

Beyond Wednesday’s unconvincing work and the accumulated devastation of their players, the English team will play for third time in the semifinals of major club tournaments in Europe (he previously did this in 2016 and 2021). And Guardiola will follow up a series this time from a bench for the ninth time, something the other DT did not achieve. He has made it four times at Barcelona (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012), three times at Bayern Munich (2014, 2015 and 2016) and will do so for the second time at City after losing in the final against Chelsea last year.