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."
Inter 2-0 Torino: Nerazzurri ease to win in party atmosphere
Hakan Calhanoglu scored twice to give newly-crowned Serie A champions Inter a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Torino on Sunday, extending their unbeaten league run to 28 games.
It was a party atmosphere at the San Siro with confetti and fireworks before kick-off as the Inter fans continued to celebrate the Scudetto title they secured on Monday with a 2-1 derby win over Milan.
Inter's win over Torino moves them onto 89 points, 19 clear of Milan with four games remaining.
The Torino players gave Inter a guard of honour as they entered the pitch and Inter coach Simone Inzaghi answered the crowd's call for him to celebrate with them.
In the first Serie A game to be officiated by an all-female refereeing team, four minutes after half-time Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi sent off Torino's Adrien Tameze for a foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Inter made the breakthrough seven minutes later when Mkhitaryan passed to Calhanoglu in the area who drove a shot into the bottom corner.
Calhanoglu converted a penalty four minutes later after a foul on Marcus Thuram and the party will continue into the evening as the Inter players parade through the streets of Milan on open-top buses.
Torino remain 10th in the standings on 46 points.
St. Mirren 1-2 Rangers: Dessers nets winner as Gers keep touch on Celtic
Rangers boosted their Scottish Premiership title hopes as Cyriel Dessers' strike earned a narrow 2-1 win over St. Mirren at the SMISA Stadium on Sunday.
Rangers were ahead with 32 minutes played as Zach Hemming failed to deal with a cross before James Bolton inadvertently put through his own net under pressure from Dessers.
But St. Mirren hit back just five minutes later as Mikael Mandron nodded goalwards, with the ball flying just past the fingertips of Jack Butland before going in off the post to send the teams into the break level.
Rangers needed a response in the second half, and they got exactly that with 18 minutes left to play as Dessers was left with far too much space in the middle to head James Tavernier's cross into the back of the net.
The hosts huffed and puffed for another equaliser but ultimately could not find one as Rangers held on for three much-needed points that move them level with leaders Celtic but with an inferior goal difference, leaving them second ahead of Celtic's visit to Dundee later on Sunday.
St. Mirren, meanwhile, remain fifth in the Scottish Premiership table.
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
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