Pep focuses on positives after thrilling win Simeone happy after Atletico cruise past Bayer
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Man City manager says experience gained from 53 win over Monaco will help team in future
MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the experience of Tuesday’s exhilarating 5-3 Champions League victory over Monaco would stand his side in good stead in the competition.
City are in control of the last-16 tie ahead of the return leg on March 15, but at several moments during the first leg their destiny appeared to be hanging by a thread. Guardiola’s side went ahead, fell 2-1 and then 3-2 down, but finally rallied with three goals in the last 19 minutes from Sergio Aguero, who scored a brace, John Stones and Leroy Sane.
“A lot of things happened, but in the moment we were lucky. We were stable mentally,” Guardiola told BT Sport at the Etihad Stadium.
“The old and young guys in the team played amazing. To live this experience helps us a lot in the future. Monaco has more history than us in the competition and you need this kind of experience to learn and improve.
“Of course anything can happen in Monaco and we have to score goals. We think in attack: attack, attack, attack.”
He added: “The result is OK. It could be better, could be worse, but it is what it is.”
Radamel Falcao scored twice for Monaco, in addition to a goal by 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe, but saw a second-half penalty saved by City goalkeeper Willy Caballero with the visitors 2-1 up. “The first thing I say is today is one of the most exciting games in the Champions League this year,” said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim.
“For the supporters it’s very good. I think everyone stayed happy, watching the two teams.
“There was lots of attacking quality, eight goals. I think today Monaco played a great game. I’ve congratulated the players. But there were little defensive errors.
“The key moment of the game was the chance to go 3-1 up that we missed. Then our opponents made it 2-2. LEVERKUSEN: Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team for perfectly executing his game plan in their 4-2 Champions League victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and said the scoreline should have been even higher.
Atletico ripped the Leverkusen defence to shreds with a string of lethal counter-attacks in the last-16 first leg, making the most of an erratic backline.
“We could even have won by a higher margin but their goalkeeper pulled off two outstanding saves to deny (Antoine) Griezmann,” said Simeone.
“It is important to have belief when you play away from home, and I thought we had that in abundance.
“We thought before the game that, if we attacked down our left side, we would cause their right-footed defenders problems,” he said.
“That is exactly what we did. Leverkusen fought their way back into the game in the second half but overall it is a very satisfying evening for us.”
Atletico took a two-goal lead through Griezmann and Saul Niguez and scored again each time the Bundesliga club battled back and cut the deficit.
Griezmann’s goal, his 13th in the Champions League also made the Frenchman his club’s top scorer in the competition.
“For us it was an unusual game. We did it perfectly in the first half. We were intelligent and smart,” Simeone said. “They came back in the second half but we kept at our plan until the end.”
The Spaniards also hit the woodwork and Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno denied them twice more in one-on-one situations to give the German side a Falcao 32, 61 Mbappe 40
sliver of hope for the return leg on March 15.
Atletico, finalists in 2014 and 2016, are now eyeing their ninth last-eight appearance while Leverkusen, who have never advanced past this stage, have their work cut out for next month.
“The important thing for us is that we continue to improve,” Simeone said. “It is important not to concede that many goals at this stage of the tournament, so that is something we need to work on.
“Leverkusen have nothing to lose in the second leg, so we need to be careful,” warned Simeone. “Even so, we can be very pleased with our efforts this evening.”