Pep Guardiola says the debate regarding the contrasting styles of his Manchester City side and Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid "is stupid".

The reigning champions of England and Spain face off at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

While Atletico have become famed for their organised and somewhat defensive set-ups, City are considered one of the finest footballing sides anywhere in world football.

However, ahead of facing Simeone for a fourth time in their managerial careers, Guardiola has defended the Argentine's style of play.

"I'm not going to talk one second about this stupid debate," Guardiola said at Monday's pre-match news conference. 

"Everyone tries to win the game. If they win they are right, if we win we are right. It's for the players, the difference will be there. Honestly, not one second.

"After watching Atletico there is a misconception, wrong, about the way Simeone plays. It's more offensive than people believe. 

"He doesn't want to take a risk in the build up but they have quality in the final third. They know exactly how to play. In the moments of the game, these situations are really good."

Guardiola, who has won two of those previous three meetings with Simeone, added: "What is playing ugly? 

"My team won 1-0 at Old Trafford and Bernardo Silva spent five minutes in the corner, that is not ugly. It's defending the position. 

"I'm here to talk about what we try to do. I never judge the opponents. What they do, what we have to do to win."

City have won eight major domestic honours in Guardiola's five full campaigns at the club, but they have yet to lift the Champions League under the Catalan coach.

Guardiola has at times been criticised for overthinking his team selections and he joked he will take a different approach in the first leg against Atletico.

"In the Champions League I always overthink," he said. "There are always new tactics. Tomorrow you will see a new one. I overthink a lot, that's why I have very good results.

"It would be boring if I always played the same way. If people think I play the same against Atletico and Liverpool, I don't like. 

"The movements are different, the players are all different with different personalities. That's why I overthink and create stupid tactics.

"Tonight I take an inspiration and I'm going to do incredible tactics tomorrow. We play with 12 tomorrow!"

While Guardiola and Simeone have crossed paths before, Tuesday's match will be the first time City and Atletico have faced off in European competition.

Guardiola has won three of his four meetings with Spanish clubs in the Champions League while in charge of City, with those being the most recent three.

City's reward should they better Atleti over the two legs will be a semi-final against either Real Madrid or Chelsea, the latter a possible repeat of last season's final.

The Citizens are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and lead Liverpool by one point at the top of the Premier League ahead of the two sides facing off next Sunday.

That game could go a long way to determining which team wins the title, but Guardiola is only focused on the Atletico match for now.

"If you don't play these games you're out of the competition," he said. "It's a joy to be here every season. To arrive every season, April, May to fight for titles we've done well. 

"But any bad results now and you're out of competitions. Every opponent is tough in this stage. Every team has a particular way to play. You have to adapt and adjust."

Pep Guardiola must be wary of the "complicated" challenge Atletico Madrid can pose to Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final, according to Luis Garcia and Jose Enrique.

Atletico battled to a 2-1 aggregate victory over Manchester United in their last-16 clash to tee up a first-ever meeting in Europe between Diego Simeone's side and City.

But Guardiola and Simeone are no strangers to one another given they have faced off four times, and Atleti eliminated the Spaniard's Bayern Munich in the 2015-16 Champions League semi-finals.

Atletico averaged just 27 per cent possession across the two legs and scored twice from 18 shots, while Bayern netted the same number of goals from 53 attempts as the Spanish side progressed on away goals.

Garcia, who enjoyed two spells at Atleti during his playing career, expects Simeone to set up in a familiar fashion when the two teams meet on Tuesday and warned that City could suffer on the counter-attack.

"It is one of the teams that you don't want to face, because of the rhythm and the players that Guardiola has developed, he knows how to use the players in every situation," he told Stats Perform. 

"But Atletico is a complicated team when they have confidence and return to the basics of defending well together.

"With players in attack like Joao Felix and Angel Correa, with players like Yannick Carrasco and Marcos Llorente, they can be dangerous on counter-attacks and we have seen City suffer against teams that sit back."

Former Liverpool defender Enrique echoed his fellow Spaniard's thoughts as he insisted Simeone will not care how his side plays as long as they get a result.

"Sometimes Cholo [Simeone] gets hit, but in this type of competition he knows what he has to do and it won't be easy," he said to Stats Perform. 

"Pep knows Cholo a lot and Cholo knows Pep a lot. Manchester City is going to have possession and that doesn't matter to Cholo, he just wants to win and across two games, Cholo is very complicated and can beat anyone."

After eliminating Ralf Rangnick's United with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, Atleti are eyeing consecutive wins on away trips to face English sides in European competition before the second leg in Spain on April 13.

Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City they must not expect Liverpool to drop any points before the end of the season – apart from when they visit the Etihad Stadium next weekend.

The City manager saw his side win 2-0 at Burnley on Saturday to return to the top of the Premier League, after being deposed for a couple of hours by Jurgen Klopp's Reds.

First-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan gave City the points at Turf Moor, with this their third successive 2-0 victory over Burnley.

"We got the points and there are eight games left... 24 [points]," said Guardiola.

"Hopefully Liverpool are going to lose against us, but apart from that I don't think they're going to drop points. We have to feel this pressure, live it and handle it. We have to win eight games, otherwise we will not be champions."

Guardiola's objective is to keep the minds of his players away from the prospects of winning trophies, and drilled to focus on the importance of the next game. For City, the next task now is a Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

"We have to feel the pressure," Guardiola said. "We have to concentrate on the Champions League, then we have five days to prepare for Liverpool."

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss added: "To be honest, we don't speak much about being contenders to be champions this season."

City were always expected to come out on top at Turf Moor against a relegation-threatened side, given they had won their past nine meetings with Burnley in all competitions by an aggregate score of 32-1.

Guardiola lamented City not bolstering their goal difference even further as they failed to put away any of their 12 shots in the second half, while he said Burnley's grass was long and made his team's task a challenge.

Raheem Sterling provided assists for both goals, and his performance pleased Guardiola, as did the fact the forward got to captain England against Ivory Coast during the international break.

"Raheem came back from the national team, with the boost of a goal and being the captain for England," Guardiola said. "We saw today how decisive he was with all the decisions, and he played with the assists from the right side, and showed speed and everything.

“I have the feeling he is arriving in a really good moment.”

It was a win that contained several City landmarks, with De Bruyne becoming the 10th City player to reach 200 Premier League appearances, with only Fernandinho (140) picking up more victories in his first 200 Premier League games for the club than the Belgian (139).

Gundogan's goal was his 34th in the Premier League for City, making him the outright highest-scoring German in the competition's history, overtaking former Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil.

Pep Guardiola is unsure if Erik ten Hag would be a success at Manchester United, but has no doubt over the Ajax coach's quality.

Ten Hag is being heavily linked with a move to United to replace Ralf Rangnick, once the German leaves his interim role at the end of the season.

According to reports, Ten Hag held talks with United in recent weeks, and he did not deny that speculation in an interview with Germany's Sport1.

The 52-year-old reaffirmed that his full focus as it stands is on Ajax, though called United "a great club with great fans" and that he did not "want to rule anything out."

Manchester City manager Guardiola worked at Bayern at the same time as Ten Hag was in charge of the club's second team, and believes the Dutchman has all of the quality to succeed in the Premier League.

However, Guardiola stressed that many quality managers have come and gone at United since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

"I don't know. Nobody knows. If I were 100 per cent sure, I would call Man United, and I would tell the guys they have to take him, but I don't know," Guardiola told a news conference ahead of City's clash with Burnley on Saturday.

"So nobody knows. When I arrived here I didn't know [the league], nobody knows. He'd try and he's a good manager, there's no doubt of it. But, in the past, the previous managers since Alex [Ferguson] left.

"We can't say that David Moyes is not a proper manager. Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, you know, or right now [Ralf Rangnick]. So I think all the managers who have been at United are excellent. We cannot deny that. "

Guardiola does believe that Ten Hag has proved his quality across a successful spell with Ajax, though, which has so far included two league and cup doubles in the Netherlands and a run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018-19.

"He was, I think, one season with the second team for Bayern [Munich], we spoke quite regularly," Guardiola said.

"He's an incredible person, human being. I was surprised how humble and good [he is]. About his qualities... just take a look at his Ajax in the last years. [They've been] a joy to watch in many, many things.

"Not just the year they got to the [Champions League] semi-final, if it weren't for little details they would have reached the final. The game they played against Benfica [this season] at home was exceptional but football is like this.

"In terms of quality just take a look at his teams. To define a manager you have to watch his teams for a long time and say, 'okay, this is the team and this manager makes them play this play'. There's no doubt about that.

"The relationship we had was incredibly good. When we chat about football in the second team, the players, whatever, it always was exceptionally good."

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City could slip up before the season ends and still claim the Premier League title.

With Liverpool chasing hard, there appears to be little wriggle room for leaders City, who have nine games remaining in their trophy defence.

Liverpool visit City on April 10 in a fixture that could go a long way to determining the destiny of the title, given its proximity to the end of the campaign.

Former Barcelona boss Guardiola can see a scenario, though, where City do not have everything go their own way between now and the final-day clash with Aston Villa on May 22, yet still end up as champions.

"We can do mistakes and win the title, so nobody knows," manager Guardiola told a news conference ahead of City's game at Burnley.

"Whatever happens in this game or the next one or the next one, it's not going to be champion. We're going to fight until the end, that's for sure."

City could drop down to second place by the time they tackle Burnley on Saturday afternoon. Liverpool, who are a point adrift, have an earlier game against Watford.

But Guardiola says his players would feel no psychological effect should they be knocked from their perch by Jurgen Klopp's team.

"Nothing. Zero. Why [would it]?" Guardiola said. "At the end of the weekend we'll know the position we are. But even going a point in front or a point backward, we have to do our job, nothing changes."

This is the time of the season when both Liverpool and City risk being stretched, despite their player pool resources.

Both are chasing titles in England and Europe, with Guardiola wary his side will be playing midweek and weekend games throughout April if they maintain their Champions League push by seeing off Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.

"It's not the first time we've done it," he said. "That means so far we have done incredibly well. Now it is game by game, and the first is Burnley."

City won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium when they met Burnley in October, and that was also the outcome when these sides went head-to-head at Turf Moor last sesson.

Saturday's game promises to be a clash of cultures, with City having had 685 open play sequences of 10-plus passes in the Premier League this season, at least 187 more than any other side. Burnley have managed just 66 such sequences, making them the only side yet to have reached triple figures for that metric.

This is a fixture that might slip off the Premier League schedule next season, with Burnley second-bottom and in danger of relegation.

Guardiola expressed his admiration for Burnley boss Sean Dyche, but these are worrying times for the Clarets chief, whose team have lost their last three Premier League games by an aggregate score of 8-0, despite being level at half-time in all three. They last lost four consecutive league games without scoring a single goal back in May 2015.

City have won 24 of their last 26 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone.

After Burnley away, City head into the first leg with Atletico on Tuesday, before Liverpool head to Manchester. After that game, there will be just seven rounds of Premier League games remaining.

"We have still nine games to play," Guardiola said on Friday. "Game by game, we'll see what happens.

"We know what we have to do, we have to win games, that's all. We're going to try."

Pep Guardiola has indicated Manchester City will have to cope without Ruben Dias for crucial games against Atletico Madrid and Liverpool.

Centre-back Dias has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the FA Cup win at Peterborough United on March 1, and it was revealed he faced four to six weeks on the sidelines.

It appears the Portuguese defender will be available again closer to the six-week mark than Guardiola might have hoped, with City facing Atletico in the Champions League either side of a Premier League clash with title rivals Liverpool.

First comes a trip to Burnley on Saturday, with Dias a confirmed non-starter for that game.

"I don't know," Guardiola said, when asked how much longer Dias faced on the sidelines.

"The doctor said four to six weeks. I think we need 10 more days, two weeks more. Everything is going well."

The first leg of the Atletico quarter-final is coming up at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with Liverpool visiting on Sunday, April 10, three days before Guardiola's men are back in European action in Madrid.

The timeframe suggests Dias may struggle to play any part in those three games, which are followed by an FA Cup semi-final, also against Liverpool, on April 16 at Wembley.

Although Dias has been an integral figure in Guardiola's first-team plans, his absence from four Premier League games this season has not had a majorly adverse impact to date.

Without him, City have won three times and drawn once in four games (average points: 2.5), while with Dias in the side they have won 19, drawn three and lost three (average points: 2.4) – though the sample sizes are significantly different.

City would have good cause to be cautiously optimistic of taking three points at Burnley without Dias involved, however.

After taking five points from their first 12 available against City in the Premier League (W1 D2 L1), Burnley have managed just one point from the subsequent 11 games between the teams (D1 L10).

Indeed, City have won their last nine meetings with Burnley in all competitions by a 32-1 aggregate score.

Jack Grealish believes it is a "brilliant time" to be in his shoes, as the England star focuses on improving his attacking output to impress Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

Grealish produced a lively display as England beat Ivory Coast 3-0 in Tuesday's international friendly, with the attacking midfielder playing a leading role in a largely inexperienced starting XI.

The former Aston Villa man set up his City team-mate Raheem Sterling for England's second goal, with what was one of three key passes – only James Ward-Prowse supplied more.

While his performances for City since his massive £100million move from Villa last year have been far from alarming, Grealish's productivity in terms of goals and assists is lacking.

Eight City players have managed more goal involvements than Grealish (who has seven) across all competitions, and while Guardiola has indicated he is not worried, the 26-year-old playmaker is eager to see his end product improve.

"I'm just happy to get goals and assists," Grealish told Sky Sports after teeing up Sterling for England.

"They have been difficult to come by at Manchester City, but with England I have got quite a few. I want to continue playing well because I'm really enjoying it.

"Of course, I've spoken to Pep Guardiola. He's shown me every other stat in the world that you would be happy with, apart from goals and assists.

"He's the only person I need to impress, but if you're a forward you want to get goals and assists, so hopefully in the business end of the season I can get them."

He did not seem overly concerned in general, however, clearly recognising he is in a good place.

"It's a brilliant time to be in my shoes," Grealish said. "We're in so many competitions still and then at the end of the year we have the World Cup. I need to keep impressing the manager to get into that squad."

Tuesday's match was effectively ended as a spectacle in the 40th minute when Serge Aurier was shown a second yellow card for dissent, reducing an Ivory Coast side that was already struggling to hurt England to 10 men.

Curiously, even Grealish was protesting in favour of his opponent at the time.

"I wanted [Aurier] to stay on because it's a friendly and you get more from playing against 11," Grealish explained.

"I think it would have been more of a challenge for us. I said to the referee: 'Come on!'"

England are next in action at the start of June when they start their Nations League campaign against Hungary – but first, they turn their attention to Friday's World Cup draw, which will reveal who they are to face in the group stage of Qatar 2022.

Fabio Capello believes Italy's failure to qualify for back-to-back World Cups is due to a national obsession with following Pep Guardiola's Barcelona blueprint.

Former Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus and Roma boss Capello claims Italian football should have been following the German 'heavy metal' model rather than copying the more intricate noodling of the Spanish style of play.

Capello, who also coached Russia and England, cannot see why Italy would go against their great strengths by trying to match the high technical levels of Spain.

He told Sky Sport Italia: "The explanation is very simple. I have been saying for a long time that we are copying Guardiola's football of 15 years ago."

The 75-year-old Capello said this meant "all sideways passing, no verticality, little physical strength".

Guardiola built a Barcelona team on a possession-based game that was full of nuance, with players drilled to understand and adhere to its intricacies, and they became arguably the greatest club side of all time.

Capello does not see Italian players having the skill set to follow such a formula for success.

"Instead we should follow Klopp's model, a German-style football," Capello said.

Italy won the delayed Euro 2020 tournament last year, beating England on penalties in the Wembley final, but a 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday knocked them out of contention to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

Roberto Mancini's team had 564 passes to 309 by North Macedonia, owning 65.4 per cent of possession, and led the shot count 32-4, only to be stunned by a stoppage-time goal from the visitors in Palermo.

The Azzurri will be spectators from a distance for the tournament in November and December, having also missed out on the Russia 2018 finals.

"Macedonia on a physical level were superior to us in terms of dynamism, strength and determination," Capello said. "It is all clear: until we understand that the model to be copied is the German one, we will not move forward, because if we want to do it like the Spaniards, who have a superior technique, we will never be able to do it, we always do it at 50 per cent."

Capello said the Italian team to take heed of the German example were Atalanta, whose results showed it had benefits. They sit fifth in Serie A, having finished third last season, and are through to the Europa League quarter-finals.

"In Europe we play at a different pace, and we are not used to it," Capello said. "At the base there is this wrong idea of ​​football. We are the country of passing back to the goalkeeper."

Manchester City will meet Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals if Jurgen Klopp's Reds see off Nottingham Forest in their quarter-final tie, while Chelsea will face Crystal Palace.

City's dominant 4-1 win against Southampton means Pep Guardiola's team have reached the competition's final four in four consecutive seasons, last lifting the trophy with a 6-0 win over Watford in 2019.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have lost on penalties in each of their last two Wembley meetings with City, doing so in the 2016 EFL Cup final and the 2019 Community Shield, with both matches finishing 1-1 after extra time.

After thrashing the Saints on Sunday, Guardiola's Premier League leaders have now hit four or more goals in 80 different games under his management, with Liverpool doing so on 58 occasions during that time, the second highest tally amongst English sides.

Chelsea have finished as FA Cup runners-up in three of the last five seasons, and after advancing to the last four with a routine 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday, will be looking to record a third consecutive win over Patrick Viera's Eagles this season.

Palace's 4-0 quarter-final victory over Everton, meanwhile, means they have won four consecutive games in the competition for the first time since 2016, when they lost the final to Manchester United.

Should Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea progress from that tie, they could face either a repeat of last season's Champions League final, in which they defeated Man City 1-0 via a Kai Havertz goal.

Pep Guardiola said that every game feels like a final after Manchester City stepped up their quest to complete a treble by advancing to the last four of the FA Cup.

The Citizens reached the semi-finals of the competition for the fifth time in six seasons after a commanding 4-1 victory over Southampton at St Mary’s.

Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne were on target either side of an Aymeric Laporte own goal, while substitutes Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez sealed the deal later on.

The Premier League leaders, who also have a Champions League quarter-final clash with Atletico Madrid to look forward to, remain in the hunt for three trophies this season. 

Impressed with the improvement of his side’s performance after the break against the Saints, Guardiola is well aware of the stakes on offer with every game that passes.

The Spaniard told BBC Sport: "For the last 15 [minutes] of the first half, we forgot to play, knowing that this would be difficult because Southampton is one of the best, most organised teams we face all season.

"They push you with incredible intensity, but the goal we conceded was a consequence of us forgetting to play.

"The second half was much better, in personality and play. They had one chance for Che Adams, at 2-1, but the quality of our players up front made the difference.

"It was not a comfortable victory, but now we go into the international break.

"There are two months left in the season, and we are in three competitions. We know every game is a final, and we knew it was important not to lose today."

De Bruyne, who was on target from the penalty spot, believes the third – a stunning 20-yard Foden volley – and fourth goals epitomised the quality that City possess.

And the Belgium international, who was part of the side that lifted the trophy in 2019, has his sights set on doing so again having suffered semi-final defeats in each of the last two seasons.

The midfielder added: "I think the first 20 minutes and the last half an hour, we did well. In between, we made too many stupid mistakes and even with their goal, we should have just played it out – there were 30 seconds to go until half-time.

"We chose the wrong options and Southampton came back into the game. Not a lot was said at half-time, but we had to play better, and we did that.

"But I think the reaction was really good; the second half, we dominated, and we did much better.

"The third and fourth goals were beautiful goals, and we saw then how good we can play.

"We want to win every competition we enter. We have lost in a couple of FA Cup semi-finals, but we are very happy and privileged we go again and hopefully, we can win it this time."

Pep Guardiola insisted he would not swap any of his Manchester City players as they chase treble glory – batting away speculation about Erling Haaland.

City could match Manchester United's 1998-99 feat of winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in one season, and Guardiola is no longer ridiculing that possibility.

They are a nose ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League and through to the quarter-finals of both knockout competitions, achieving such success largely without a recognised 'number nine' striker.

Haaland is the player most frequently linked with City, although Real Madrid and Barcelona are known to admire Borussia Dortmund's prolific marksman too. A decision could reportedly come soon regarding Haaland's future.

"Since I'm here, apparently every month, two months, we're going to sign 50 players," Guardiola said, when asked about the 21-year-old Norwegian. "Right now, listen, it's impossible I'm going to talk about some guy who's not here, and I don't know if he will be here. He's a Dortmund player.

"You can ask for this player or another one or another one. A transfer window is going to start, and many things are going to happen."

Southampton provide the opposition on Sunday in the FA Cup, with Guardiola taking issue with a reporter who questioned whether it might be challenging to motivate his City players for the trip to St Mary's.

Given City's other targets and Liverpool's rapid gain on them in the title race, some might consider the FA Cup a distraction, but not Guardiola.

"How do you ask me this, when we show in the last six years that we play every game in every competition like it was the last game in our lives?" Guardiola said.

"I know it looks like everything is gone, it is over, no chance of anything, but the manager still trusts a lot in his players to try to win every competition, being who we are.

"I want to do it with these guys. I would not change one single player to do these next two months we have ahead of us. Success? I don't know."

Since Guardiola joined City ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, Southampton have won just one of the 13 clashes between the sides (D3 L9), a 1-0 victory in July 2020 on home soil. City have drawn home and away in the Premier League with Southampton this season, however.

Guardiola was asked about how City have achieved spectacular success during his reign, while neighbours Manchester United have fallen short of delivering trophies.

United's last major silverware came in the 2016-17 season when they won the EFL Cup and Europa League, and despite high investment in players since then, they have been unable to keep pace with City.

"I would love to give an opinion about that, not to help them, because I'm sorry, but I don't have an opinion because I'm not there," Guardiola said. "I don't know the reason why. I think the team they have is fantastic. We cannot deny how good they are. But the reason why, I would say because the contenders are good too."

Guardiola said City were enjoying success due to the financial backing they have, and the support he and his staff receive from club hierarchy, comparing this to United in the Alex Ferguson era and Chelsea during early years of Roman Abramovich's ownership.

When it comes to others falling short, Guardiola said: "The difference in this club is there is strategy for many years. We lose, but this is the way."

City are losing only very rarely these days, which means the treble dream lives on. They won the domestic treble in 2018-19, but now the three trophies they are chasing include the old European Cup.

"I would say in September, October, November, it's more difficult," Guardiola said. "But we have two months left and still you can be there to win the titles, it can be possible. On the other side, it happened once in the lifetime."

Pep Guardiola knows he must not allow Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid to smother Manchester City when the teams clash in the Champions League quarter-finals.

The City manager was impressed by how Atletico accounted for Manchester United in the previous round, preventing the Red Devils imposing their game on the second leg at Old Trafford.

A 1-0 win for Atletico carried Simeone's team through to the last eight as 2-1 aggregate winners, and now Guardiola and Simeone – arguably the two best coaches in world football – will go head to head on the touchline.

Guardiola believes Simeone has a job for as long as he wants it at Atletico, pointing to that security and board support as being telling in the success the club have had, notably in winning last season's LaLiga title.

He also acknowledges that Atletico are so expert in the tenacious style they play, that even a team of City's level can be majorly tested.

"They are what they are, and they're able to avoid who you are. This is the biggest quality of Atletico Madrid," Guardiola said. "You try to impose your game but sometimes it is so difficult."

Simeone is regarded as a master of stifling opposition teams, and drawing from his own players an unmatched work rate.

"But if he likes to not concede goals, I like it more than him," Guardiola said. "If I want to win games, I like it more than him. I like the counter-attacks the same like him."

The City boss added: "I saw the first 15, 20, 25 minutes against Man United and United could not breathe, [Atletico] made intensive high pressing."

The quarter-final will be the first ever meeting between City and Atletico in European competition, while Guardiola was eliminated in his last meeting with the Rojiblancos in the knockout stages of this competition, when his Bayern Munich side were beaten in the 2015-16 semi-finals.

City will be at home first leg on April 5, and travel to Madrid for the April 13 second game.

What Guardiola is certain about is that Simeone's bosses have his back, which the City boss believes has underpinned the team's success.

"When this happens, you have an incredible achievement as a club and institution," Guardiola said.

"The most important thing that happens in that club is that Simeone will not be sacked, and all the players know he is the manager and he will be the manager.

"All the players know the hierarchy support the manager unconditionally for the fact of the results they had in the past."

Atletico have been unable to match last season's domestic performance this time around, with Real Madrid the runaway leaders in LaLiga, but Guardiola admires how there has been no sense of panic, or rush to do anything radically different.

"We're going to try, knowing it will be difficult in both our games against them," the City boss said. "You have to be clever. They wait for the right moment. Every game they have chances to score a goal.

"We're going to a nice stadium with incredible supporters, and we're going there to reach the semi-final. Hopefully they're worried to play against us."

Manchester City appear frontrunners to secure Erling Haaland's signature after Borussia Dortmund adviser Matthias Sammer inadvertently hinted at a move for the striker.

Haaland has taken the Bundesliga by storm since he arrived from Salzburg in January 2020, scoring 80 goals in 80 appearances across all competitions.

That has made him one of the most sought-after talents in European football, with a host of elite clubs circling for when his reported €75million release clause kicks in at the end of this season.

Barcelona and Real Madrid were reportedly among the favourites to secure the Norwegian's services, with Blaugrana boss Xavi said to have met with the 21-year-old in Munich.

But Pep Guardiola's City, who Haaland's father Alf-Inge played for between 2000 and 2003, have now emerged as the leading candidates, with Sammer acknowledging the dangerous partnership the Spanish boss and talisman could form at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking on Amazon Prime, Sammer was asked how Haaland could work with Guardiola, to which he replied: "They will both benefit from each other. Because Pep, of course - I was able to experience him for three years - has a certain idea.

"I can also imagine dealing with a centre-forward, no question. But he will also have to learn from the centre-forward."

When pressed if his answer meant a deal was already done, Sammer retreated and suggested he had no idea. However, he did offer an insight into the possible figures involved in talks for Haaland.

"I didn't hear anything today, yesterday, the day before yesterday," he said. "I know City is after him. The numbers - I had whiplash! I passed out. My wife picked me up again. Accordingly, it is possible."

City missed out on their key striker target Harry Kane from Tottenham before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, and will be keen to ensure they make no similar mistake on this occasion.

Pep Guardiola insisted he had "no regrets" with his Manchester City side, despite them failing to restore their six-point lead at the Premier League summit on Monday.

Reigning top-flight champions City headed to Crystal Palace knowing victory would see them regain their advantage over Liverpool, who defeated Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Saturday.

However, Guardiola's team had to settle for just a point at Selhurst Park as they were twice denied by the woodwork through Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne either side of the break.

That leaves Liverpool, who are four points behind and play their game in hand against Arsenal on Wednesday, with the chance to top the table by the time the two teams meet on April 10 at the Etihad Stadium should City fail to beat Burnley in their next game.

But Guardiola, who did not introduce Gabriel Jesus or Raheem Sterling off the bench in search of a winner, refused to criticise his side after they again failed to breach Patrick Vieira's astute defence, Palace having recorded a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture this season.

"I think they [Palace] played good," he told Sky Sports after the game.

"There are still many games to play, we have to win a lot of games but the way we played, there are no regrets about the team. We would have preferred to win of course but the game was well played.

"We played to win the game; we created more. The way we played was amazing in a difficult stadium with the grass not perfect."

He added to BBC Sport: "We played a really good game. In 90 minutes, we conceded mistakes a little bit, but the way we played was really good.

"Luck doesn't exist in football. We have to score goals and we didn't do it. We played to score goals and concede few. We struggled a little bit.

"The guys who were playing were playing good, that's why I didn't make changes. We didn't score, that was the mistake.

"The team that was there today was there before and will be there in the next game. I am very pleased with the performance and the way we played."

Manchester City failed to restore their six-point lead at the Premier League summit as they were held to a goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Monday.

Palace had been looking to complete a first league double over City since 1987-88 but settled simply for frustrating Pep Guardiola's side, who went the closest to opening the scoring in the first half when Joao Cancelo rattled the woodwork.

Kevin De Bruyne was also denied by the frame of the goal after the interval, with no late winner forthcoming at Selhurst Park.

The stalemate meant City moved just four points clear of second-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand and are yet to play the champions at the Etihad Stadium.

Michael Olise poked narrowly wide in the opening stages, while Bernardo Silva spurned a glorious chance after Vicente Guaita had spilled a De Bruyne strike at the other end.

De Bruyne then tested Guaita's reactions with an audacious volley, before Cancelo cannoned against the left post with a thunderous long-range effort, with Aymeric Laporte squandering the inviting rebound inside the area.

Riyad Mahrez almost found the top-left corner with a left-footed curler, then De Bruyne struck the right post after the break with his low drive. Guaita tipped over from Mahrez on the follow-up, but a belated offside flag meant a breakthrough goal would not have stood.

Silva wasted another gilt-edged chance to nudge City ahead when he touched wide from Jack Grealish's cross, while Laporte failed to make clean contact with a close-range header late on.

Conor Gallagher could even have stolen victory as his shot from a tight angle rose over Ederson's goal in stoppage time.