Manchester City travelled to Spain today ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. They carry with them a 1-0 lead after the first leg, in which Atletico Madrid set up to defend deep for the majority of the match, drawing criticism from fans and pundits.
In particular, pictures were doing the rounds on Twitter highlighting Atleti’s formation, sat back in two banks of five. Across the ninety minutes in first leg, the visitors failed to take a shot too.
This is the ideal tactical masterclass. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like pic.twitter.com/D6gmpKP1Pe
— John Muller (@johnspacemuller) April 5, 2022
Ahead of the second leg, the Atletico Madrid captain Koke Resureccion spoke to the media and was keen to defend his team. He told SkySports that not only did he love Manchester City’s style of football, but he loved Atletico’s style and believed in it fully.
? “I love the way Atlético Madrid plays.”
Koke says Atletico Madrid will not change their play style against Manchester City despite needing to score at least once to stay in the tie. pic.twitter.com/gObf4CTozi
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 12, 2022
Koke was bullish about the need to change their approach going into the second leg, but maintained that they would try to attack as normal on Wednesday night.