Simeone aims dig at Guardiola after Atletico and City players scrap in tunnel

Atletico Madrid’s Argentinian coach Diego Simeone reacts at the end of the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Manchester City FC at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on April 13, 2022. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

Diego Simeone aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Pep Guardiola on a feisty and bad-tempered night at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday, where Manchester City’s advance to the semi-finals was overshadowed by a brawl on the pitch and in the tunnel.

Simeone was asked after the match if he felt Guardiola had disrespected him during the quarter-final, in which City won 1-0 on aggregate after a goalless draw in the second leg.

“Often people who have a great vocabulary, who are very intelligent, they can praise you with contempt. But those of us with a little less vocabulary, we are not stupid either,” Simeone said.

After the first leg Guardiola said “in pre-history, today and in a hundred thousand years, attacking a 5-5 (formation) is very difficult”, which was taken by some to be a criticism of Atletico’s defensive style.

Guardiola insisted he had only ever praised Atletico’s resilience. “He can play how he wants, all I have said is it is very hard to play against them,” said Guardiola.

“I have always respected this institution and this team, I would never dare to attack this team. When a team knows how to defend like no other team in the world, it’s difficult.”

Neither Simeone nor Guardiola wanted to comment on the behaviour of their players during the match or in the tunnel.

“I didn’t see it,” said Simeone. “I was on the pitch applauding the fans. By the time I went inside there was nobody there.”

Police entered the tunnel after full-time as