Arrigo Sacchi labelled Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid as "boring" and says the Spanish club should have spent money on changing their style of play.
Atleti have become famed for their organised, defensive set-ups in their 11 years under Simeone, and those tactics were again on show in Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City.
Simeone's team failed to muster a single shot in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, making them the first side to do so in the competition since APOEL against Real Madrid in March 2012.
Indeed, since such data was first recorded from 2003-04, there have been only four instances of a side failing to register at least one shot in a single match.
Simeone's tactics have led to plenty of success over the past decade, however, with Atleti winning eight trophies – including last season's LaLiga – while also reaching the Champions League final twice.
While Sacchi respects what the Argentine has achieved, the coaching legend cannot get on board with Atleti's style of play.
"Simeone has achieved many results in recent years," Sacchi, who coached Atleti for a brief spell in 1998-99, told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"There is no doubt that his experience as a player in Italy has influenced him as a coach.
"First of all, don't concede goals and then let's see what happens, let's rely on the talent of some individuals and hope for the best.
"It's true that Atletico have quality elements, but instead of buying players and spending a lot of money, they should have spent the money on changing their style.
"Let's face it: this way of playing is boring for the audience. The fans ask for beauty, they ask for emotions. What emotion can there be in a long ball?"
Atleti have averaged 50 per cent possession in LaLiga this season, which is outside the top 40 among teams across Europe's top five leagues.
For comparison, Man City lead that metric with 68 per cent of the ball per game on average in the Premier League, followed by Atleti's domestic rivals Barcelona (65 per cent).
Atleti's 11,033 successful passes in the Spanish top flight this season, meanwhile, is only the eighth-most, placing them behind the likes of Real Sociedad (11,204) and Celta Vigo (11,653).
Despite his reservations regarding the way Atleti are coached, Sacchi acknowledged that Simeone's men still have a good chance of overcoming City in next week's return fixture on home soil.
"We must be honest, the tie between the Spaniards and City is still open. Anything could happen in the second leg," he said.
"Atletico didn't have a single shot on goal, that's true, but it's not like City had a lot. Apart from [Kevin] De Bruyne's goal, which was beautiful in its build-up and execution, I don't remember many scoring chances.
"It was a challenge for them so it wasn't fun. Atletico didn't want to play football, but City had a duty to do something more to overcome the wall."
Xavi commits U-turn and elects to stay at Barcelona
Barcelona head coach Xavi will continue in his role next season after an unexpected reversal of his decision to leave at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, according to widespread reports.
The former Barcelona midfielder announced in January that he would walk away from the job at the end of the current season, even though his contract was due to run until the end of the following term.
Xavi acknowledged the Barcelona role had taken its toll but reportedly changed his plans after a meeting with Blaugrana president Joan Laporta on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was initially appointed as Barca coach in 2021 before leading the LaLiga giants to the top-flight title in the 2022-23 campaign.
Xavi's initial announcement of his intentions to depart Barcelona came after a tough period following defeats to Girona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club before revealing the news in the aftermath of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal.
The Blaugrana turned their fortunes around after that decision became public, though, going 13 games unbeaten across all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, that run encouraged Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco to plead with Xavi to continue until the end of his agreed contract.
Though that undefeated streak ended with a 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that dumped Barcelona out of the Champions League quarter-finals, Xavi has now agreed to stay in his role.
The league title is almost out of reach this term, however, as Real Madrid moved 11 points clear of second-placed Barca with Sunday's 3-2 Clasico victory.
Premier League title race gets Man City's blood pumping - Guardiola
Pep Guardiola relishes the decisiveness of the Premier League run-in, as Manchester City prepare for another huge game in the title race.
The Citizens breezed past Luton Town 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium in their last outing in the competition, but were not in Premier League action at the weekend.
While they booked a place in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal went back to the summit by recording wins over Wolves and the Blues before Liverpool also leapfrogged Guardiola’s team with a 3-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.
City, who will be without the injured Erling Haaland, face Brighton on Thursday, in what is one of their two games in hand on the Gunners.
Asked how he feels going into the final few games of the season with so much on the line, Guardiola said: “Every game is adrenalin. Every game is important. But yes it’s decisive. Every mistake or every step back makes it more difficult. It is what it is.
“We have been here in the last years fortunately many times so that’s why we know what we are playing for.”
Guardiola was also questioned about the criticism levelled at match officials after Nottingham Forest’s strongly worded statement following their 2-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday.
"Absolutely disagree. In every league in the world, this kind of thing will happen more and more, but of course, I never had doubts about that,” said Guardiola.
"They make a mistake, they feel bad. It's normal. When they do the job, they want to do it well. The game is so difficult, it is fast and quick, decisions have to be made in one instant. It's not easy.”
Haaland out of Brighton clash, confirms Man City boss Guardiola
Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland when they take on Brighton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland missed Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea with a muscular injury he sustained against Real Madrid last week.
And the issue will also see the striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, miss out against the Seagulls on Thursday.
"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," said Guardiola, who added that City will be able to call on Phil Foden and John Stones.
"It's not a big issue but he's not available."
Haaland has scored, on average, every 109 minutes in the league this season.
However, the Norwegian has actually underperformed his expected goals (xG) of 23.7.
He has also chipped in with five assists, giving him an overall goal contributions tally of 25. Haaland has created 28 goalscoring chances for team-mates across the campaign.
After Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea on Tuesday, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City sit four points off the summit in third place, albeit with two games in hand.
Second-place Liverpool will aim to move level on points with the Gunners by beating Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
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