(Reuters) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola called on his players to control their emotions in their Champions League quarter-final return leg at Atletico Madrid next week.
Kevin De Bruyne’s 70th minute goal earned City a 1-0 win on Tuesday in a game that had several flashpoints, including an incident in which a prone Jack Grealish was struck in the head from close range by a clearance from Angel Correa.
“We have to control our emotions and do what we have to do,” Guardiola told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “There will be a referee there and we have to play our game.
“(Atletico) have faced this kind of knockout stages many times and it will be a good test for us with our maturity in this game.
“Jack reacted really well and stayed focused on what we needed to do.”
The Spaniard added that City would not simply look to defend their 1-0 advantage in Madrid and would be looking to kill off the tie.
“We’ve won the game with 1-0 and after 1-0 it was a little bit different. All the players start to press a little bit higher,” Guardiola said.
“If the game starts on the good side for Atletico, maybe they come back in to the game.
“Now we have five days to prepare and review the game and try to (see) what we can do to attack a bit better and go there to not defend the result and try and win the game.”
The second leg will be held at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid next Wednesday. Before that, City host Premier League title rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
