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."
Guardiola 'would love to stay' at Man City beyond 2025
Pep Guardiola "would love to stay" at Manchester City beyond the expiration of his contract next year amid reports linking him with the England job.
Guardiola's contract with the Premier League champions expires in 2025, and some have tipped him to take the England job following Gareth Southgate's resignation.
In eight seasons with City to date, Guardiola has won 15 major trophies including six Premier League titles and the club's first Champions League in 2022-23.
Since Guardiola arrived ahead of the 2016-17 season, City have won more games (225), scored more goals (755) and earned more points (716) than any other side in the Premier League.
On Friday, he hinted his stay at the Etihad Stadium could extend beyond nine years, telling reporters: "When I'm leaving, I will say I'm leaving, but I didn't say that.
"We will see what happens. But I will not rule it out absolutely to extend my contract. I would love to stay.
"Nine years today at the same club is an eternity. So I want to be sure it's the right decision. Not just for me, for the club, for the players.
"Still they run like they ran for eight years, it doesn't matter the competition, it doesn't matter the tournament and this is what I have to see.
"I am sure eight more years I won't stay! It's good to refresh, for players and managers.
"At the same time we have had success and are still winning Premier Leagues, arriving in the last stages and playing competitions like the Champions League. This is my feeling right now."
Guardiola was speaking ahead of City facing Milan in the second match of their pre-season tour of the United States, to take place at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
City are one of two English teams – alongside Chelsea – to have qualified for next year's 32-team Club World Cup, to be held in the USA.
Asked whether he would like to return stateside with City for that tournament, Guardiola said: "I would love to. Yeah, I would love to."
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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