Champions League: Simeone admits Man City have better players

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone weighed in on his side's upcoming quarter-final clash against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. He admits that the Premier League champions may have better players overall, but he thinks that anything can happen over two legs and he is determined to guide his team through to the semi-finals.

The Argentine spoke to the press on Monday, before his side faces City at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. "We all have pressure, but I think it is a matter of responsibility. I have no doubt that City have extraordinary players, maybe they have better players than us, but it's just two games," he said.

The Champions League is often a venue for surprising results, and Simeone believes that being a "favourite" does not always mean much. He then looked back at what transpired last season. "City and Bayern [Munich] might have a better chance [of going all the way], but last season Chelsea were the winners."

This year, he will be going head-to-head with old rival Pep Guardiola in a battle of styles between Atleti and City. "What I like about teams like City is the effort they put in to win the ball back; it's great to see them play," he said, as quoted by Marca.

He added that he would also like his own players to take a more active approach at winning the ball. "What is important for me is to see players of that quality always being active and not losing the ball. That's what all coaches want."

Atletico advanced to the quarter-finals of this year's competition by defeating Manchester United. However, he thinks that does not necessarily give them any kind of advantage. "United had different characteristics to City. City are more positional and dominate everywhere. We need to build on and improve everything we did a fortnight ago," he said.

Domestically, Atletico are struggling to defend their La Liga title and are now sitting in third place, 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid. Meanwhile, City are leading the Premier League but only by a point over Liverpool.