Pep Guardiola has joked that Manchester City will play with 12 men in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
The English and Spanish champions go head to head in Manchester in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Guardiola has clearly heard the noise when it comes to his approach to the Champions League with Man City over the years. Fans have thoughts on his tactical setup in big games, and the criticism isn't lost on the City boss, although he clearly has his own thoughts on the jabs.
Guardiola admits that he will have to come up with a new strategy for the encounter against Diego Simeone's side, but may take inspiration from his former club Bayern Munich, who accidentally fielded 12 players for a brief period against Freiburg on Saturday.
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What did Pep Guardiola say about overthinking?
"In the Champions League I always overthink," Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference. "New tactics, tomorrow you will see a new one. I overthink a lot, that's why I have very good results in the Champions League.
"It would be boring if I always played the same way. If people think I play the same against Atletico and Liverpool, I don't like that.
"The movements are different, the players are all different with different personalities. That's why I overthink and create stupid tactics. Tonight I take an inspiration and I'm going to do incredible tactics tomorrow. We play with 12 tomorrow!"
Pep Guardiola: "I LOVE to overthink…" pic.twitter.com/DZaaFvEaTd
— City Report (@cityreport_) April 4, 2022
Why is Guardiola criticized for overthinking?
Pep's comments are a clear rebuttal for a common criticism of the Spanish coach.
Guardiola won the Champions League twice in four years with Barcelona, but since joining Bayern Munich and then Man City, he has not won the competition and only reached the final once — last season.
The Spaniard has been criticized for straying from his usual tactics in big matches to experiment or try new things that the team is not used to. Fans believe this to be "overthinking" as he looks to tailor his tactical approach to the opponent rather than focus on what makes Man City such a dominant side.
Guardiola's comments make it clear that he understands this to be true, but does so intentionally, hoping to approach each match with a specific goal rather than just do the same thing every time. Obviously, Guardiola does not actually believe this makes him an "overthinker" but decided to sarcastically play into the criticism.
Guardiola's career Champions League results
| Season | Club | UCL round | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008/09 | Barcelona | Final (winner) | Barcelona 2-0 Man United |
| 2009/10 | Barcelona | Semifinal | Barcelona 2-3 Inter (agg) |
| 2010/11 | Barcelona | Final (winner) | Barcelona 3-1 Man United |
| 2011/12 | Barcelona | Semifinal | Barcelona 2-3 Chelsea (agg) |
| 2013/14 | Bayern Munich | Semifinal | Bayern 0-5 Real Madrid (agg) |
| 2014/15 | Bayern Munich | Semifinal | Bayern 3-5 Barcelona (agg) |
| 2015/16 | Bayern Munich | Semifinal | Bayern 2-2 Atletico Madrid (agg) |
| 2016/17 | Man City | Round of 16 | Man City 6-6 Monaco (agg) |
| 2017/18 | Man City | Quarterfinal | Man City 1-5 Liverpool (agg) |
| 2018/19 | Man City | Quarterfinal | Man City 4-4 Tottenham (agg) |
| 2019/20 | Man City | Semifinal | Man City 1-3 Lyon (agg) |
| 2020/21 | Man City | Final (loser) | Man City 0-1 Chelsea |
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Guardiola has no time for 'stupid' Simeone debate
While Guardiola's team are lauded for their playing style, Atletico are frequently criticized for their tactics under Simeone. But Guardiola feels the Spanish side deserve more credit than they receive and says he has no time for the pointless debate.
"After watching Atletico there is a misconception, wrong, about the way he plays. It's more offensive than people believe," he added. "He doesn't want to take a risk in the build-up but they have quality in the final third. When the ball is in our half, how competitive they are depends on the position and movement, they know exactly how to play."
"In the moments of the game, these situations, they are really good. I'm not going to talk one second about this stupid debate.
"Everyone tries to win the game. If they win they are right, if we win we are right. It's for the players, the difference will be there. Honestly, not one second."
Atletico Madrid, currently sitting third in the Spanish top flight, has scored 57 goals this season, just four fewer than leaders Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Atleti has conceded 37, more than any of the top eight clubs in the La Liga table.
