‘Proud to be Atleti’ – Atletico Madrid star fires back at Pep Guardiola’s defensive comments

Atletico Madrid captain Koke hit back at Pep Guardiola after the Manchester City boss criticised his side’s ‘prehistoric, 5-5-0′ tactics’ following their Champions League clash on Tuesday evening.

Atletico looked like they would frustrate City at the Etihad and take a draw back to the Wanda Metropolitano for next week’s second leg, until Kevin De Bruyne finally broke their stubborn resistance to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Diego Simeone’s side played very defensively to combat City’s attacking threats, regularly putting 11 men behind the ball to restrict the space available to their opponents. In fact, they played so deep, they failed to have a single shot for the first time ever under Simeone.

Guardiola stressed after the match that it is not easy to attack a dedicated defensive system like Atletico deployed at the Etihad, saying: “We sensed they would play 3-5-2, then they adjusted and went to a 5-5-0. In prehistoric times, now and in 100,000 years, it is always very difficult to attack a 5-5 formation.”

Taking offence at the comment, Koke wrote on Instagram around an image of the Atletico club crest: “In love with your history since prehistoric times, proud to be Atleti.”

Atletico didn’t register a single shot on goal during the match, and while City dominated 70% of the possession, they only managed two shots on target themselves.

Simeone, who is expected to play a more attacking football next week, has maintained his team should not be ’embarrassed’ to defend resolutely.

He said: ‘Difficult game, very difficult, against an extraordinary team, which plays very well, which achieves based on the great individualities that being a great team has. We wanted a close game and go on the counter-attack.

‘In the first half we couldn’t get out although they didn’t shoot on goal. In the second half when we were in more danger, they found a goal.

‘A very well-played game in what everyone is looking for. They are winning 1-0, with great enthusiasm and trying to get through the tie’

When questioned about his formation, Simeone said: ‘We played an extraordinary opponent. The stats speak for themselves. They are very dynamic.

‘We want to go through with the tools at our disposal that we have. We defended really well, a massive collective effort. We could’ve attacked a bit better on the counter attack.

‘Let’s see if we can have the ball a bit more and create more difficulty for our opponents but that comes with being calm and having the collective defensive effort. I’ve been shown how to compete until the end in any way you can.’

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak added: ‘You don’t have to go crazy because it’s a long game. You have to be cold-blooded and take the chances that we are going to have.

‘Any team who played here today would have played the same as us. Give them space and they can punish you. In Madrid we’re going to have to do that bit more offensively. That is the only way we can go through.’