CONTINUE
The duel of styles between Guardiola and Simeone did not leave any tactical genius and gave rise to the game that everyone was waiting for, one in which everyone fulfilled their role. The victory was taken by the local coach, but on points, without being able to overwhelm, leaving the door open to the possible response in the return of the Argentine, who did not leave very upset either.
The two managers arrived at the match in identical attire, protected from the rain and Manchester cold by the same long dark coat. Thus they embraced vers. They also adopted a very similar gesture as they waited for kick-off on their respective benches, hands clasped and elbows on thighs as they took in stage awareness.
The only appreciable difference was the sign of the cross with which the Argentine received the start.
As soon as he started to roll the ball, they both jumped into the technical area and he almost never took a seat again. In the duel of fuss and indications, the visiting coach was more volcanic, unable to hold on while he tightened ties with the fourth referee. Guardiola, hands in his pockets, a more restrained gesture, did not stop when it came to shouting an instruction to one of his players.
On the board, Guardiola tried to get his hands on Atlético by placing Cancelo as another midfielder and accumulating players on the right wing. But that was not where he unbalanced the game. Simeone, capable of reciting the manual of this type of match by heart, responded by weaving two lines of five players and turning his little attacking game on that same side. “They are masters of defense”, he recognized after Guardiola. “In prehistory, now and in a hundred thousand years attacking a 5-5 formation is very difficult. There is no space."
“We were looking for a close match and we will go to play with great humility and enthusiasm in Madrid”, replied Simeone about his plan for this first leg. "They have scored 60 goals in this stadium in the last twenty games," he said, raising his eyebrows.
The inefficiency of his team that lasted throughout the first half managed to despair Guardiola, who turned his frustration into an endless dialogue with Juanma Lillo on the hunt and captured some brilliant idea. He found it with the entrance of Phil Foden, who barely took two minutes to assist the goal with which De Bruyne broke the game.
"You always have to plant something better," Simeone finished by saying to explain his team's options at the Metropolitano. “We will compete as far as we can.” “I suspect that it will be a game similar to the one we have seen in the minutes after the goal”, said Guardiola, who still does not have everything to reach the semi-finals: “We have won a game, the second leg remains and we will see”.
