Pep Guardiola insists his Manchester City side will continue to attack come the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Atletico Madrid next week.
Manchester City head to Madrid for the second leg with a slender 1-0 lead thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s strike in the 70th minute on Tuesday night, which came from a Phil Foden assist just 79 seconds after his introduction.
City had struggled to break this Atletico side down, although they were hardly troubled themselves as the visitors failed to record a single shot for the first time under Diego Simeone.
It played out how many predicted, but with the tie still finely poised Guardiola is pleased to have the advantage over an experienced European outfit.
“We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face, but it is a good result. We had chances to score a second and third,” Guardiola told BT Sport.
On introducing Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish at the same time in the 68th minute, he added: “The guys were playing well but we knew that Gabriel [Jesus] and Phil [Foden] have a special energy and Jack [Grealish] has the quality to keep the ball. Yeah, today the manager was so clever.
“When we make a sub it is because we think it can be a bit better. It works sometimes but other times it doesn’t.
“It is not easy to face a team with a lot of experience in this tournament. We will go there to score and try and win again.”
Foden was widely praised for his valuable contribution just moments after coming on, with former City defender Joleon Lescott claiming the England midfielder is en route to becoming a great.
Lescott said on BT Sport: “Phil Foden is associated with Man City and I know what it means for him to play for the club. If he continues at this rate, he goes down as the best English player of all time with two trophies a season.
“His mentality sets him apart. If you compare him with someone like Wayne Rooney, you can see players who are hurt when they don’t win. He is obsessed, I love what I do but he need to do it. We had to remove the balls from the hotel because you could not get him off the training ground as he wants to improve all the time.”
