Pep Guardiola spoke of the "massive influence" that Kevin De Bruyne brings to Manchester City after the Belgian's winner on his 50th Champions League appearance for the club.

City snatched a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg of the quarter-final against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, with De Bruyne rifling in from substitute Phil Foden's pass in the 70th minute.

The 30-year-old playmaker was heavily involved throughout, but it had looked like being a frustrating night for him before he finished off the excellent throughball from Foden.

Moments before the goal arrived, as Guardiola made a triple change that saw Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus enter the action, the manager called De Bruyne over to the touchline.

He passed on a word of wisdom or two, and almost in a flash City hit the front in the tie, finally breaching an Atletico defence that had manfully held out against heavy pressure from the hosts in rainy Manchester.

City had 70.5 per cent of possession and Atletico were credited with no shots at the home side's goal. Still, the tie could yet change in Madrid, and City will be thankful talisman De Bruyne, one yellow card short of suspension, was not booked for hacking down Joao Felix in the first half.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone described City as "possibly the best team in the world", but the respect between the superstar coaches is mutual.

"It was a difficult game against a tough opponent," Guardiola said.

He said City were lacking "the right rhythm" at times in the second half, which spurred him to make the changes.

Guardiola said: "It's a good result fortunately. At the end we had one or two more chances with Kevin to score more goals, but even 1-0 or 2-0 to go to Madrid it is always difficult. But good result, we won the game."

Turning his thoughts to De Bruyne, the midfielder who had to hustle as a false nine for a large chunk of the game, Guardiola said: "I think he's in the best moment of the season right now.

"He's sharp, he's quick, he's positive, his influence on our game is massive. He made an exceptional goal in the combination with Phil."

De Bruyne had a game-high five shots, forcing Jan Oblak into a fine save from one free-kick before the goal arrived.

Foden's vision and slick pass to find De Bruyne's run was admirable, almost lifted from the De Bruyne playbook.

"He has a special quality. His first steps are massive," Guardiola told a news conference. "He had the composure to make an incredible assist to Kevin.

"We knew it in the beginning with Gabriel and him, when our game was a little bit flat they could change it when [Atletico] were a bit more tired. With Jack, we could continue to control the game. We did it and they were brilliant."

Guardiola said City needed a presence in attack, with Atletico defending in two lines of five, effectively giving up the idea of scoring themselves.

They had a couple of breaks towards goal, but Ederson was largely a spectator.

"They defend so well, so compact, and so deep," Guardiola said.

"We need the talent like Phil has shown. We were patient because you have to be against these type of teams. They want to be getting you anxious and nervous. You get disorganised a bit and they punish you up front because they have top, top players. They have incredible quality up front.

"They are so good and if you are not attacking in the right way they punish you."

Looking to the second leg next week, Guardiola added: "We will go there not to defend the result, but to try to win the game.

"We have to control our emotions and do what we have to do. They have faced this kind of knockout stages many times... more than us. It will be a good test for us and our maturity in this game."

Rival boss Simeone said he had planned for City to have Foden on the pitch from the first whistle.

The Atletico head coach, who has led his side to two Champions League final defeats, said: "We expected him to play as a starter because he is a very dynamic player.

"He came on in the second half, and any of the three who came on have different characteristics. In the same way that they talked about being patient at half-time, waiting for their moment, we also waited for it. With different weapons, we were both looking for the same thing."

Simeone will now plot for Atletico's home leg, when they will have to show more attacking verve, which could open gaps for City to exploit. City have a tough Premier League assignment to come first when they face title rivals Liverpool on Sunday, and that may help Atletico.

"You always have to come up with something better," Simeone said. "It's a long match, divided into two parts, here and at home. They don't care, they'll play the same way. They're possibly the best team in the world. But with humility we'll compete."

Kevin De Bruyne believes Manchester City were rewarded for their calmness and patience during the Champions League quarter-final first leg 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.

De Bruyne marked his 50th appearance for the Citizens in the competition by striking the only goal at the Etihad Stadium.

The Belgium international latched onto Phil Foden's delicious throughball 20 minutes from time, before neatly slotting past Jan Oblak.

City had endured a frustrating first leg as they struggled to break down their opponents' typically stubborn defence.

But their persistence eventually paid off with Pep Guardiola’s side taking a slender lead to Madrid for the return fixture next week.

"It was a very hard game," De Bruyne told BT Sport. "They play so defensively tight and solid; that's their way of playing. I think we played good under the circumstances. 

"They played almost five at the back and five in midfield, so it's very hard to find the spaces.

"You need to be calm, patient, and try to find the spaces. You're going to lose balls because it's so compact, but we had a couple of chances in the second half and managed to get one.

"I expect similar over there [in the second leg]. If the game is tight, they will have to attack a little more."

Diego Simeone's men arrived in Manchester for the second time in a month - having defeated United at Old Trafford in the previous round - protecting a six-match winning streak, and will fancy their chances of turning things around next Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Guardiola insists that the Premier League leaders do not intend to sit back and rest on their laurels at Wanda Metropolitano.

Asked if he was happy with his side's performance, the head coach told BT Sport: "A lot. 

"We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face, but it is a good result. We had chances to score a second and third.

"It is not easy to face a team with a lot of experience in this tournament. 

"We will go there to score and try and win again."

Great art will typically have its back to the wall, and for an hour on Tuesday it was a great artist who stood with his back to a red wall on a rainy night in Manchester, unhappy with his lot.

A promising exhibition was turning into a soggy mess as Kevin De Bruyne had his visionary brushstrokes stripped of their customary colour, the false nine lacking his usual lustre.

But then the narrative flipped, and a 50th Champions League appearance in City colours for this wonderful Belgian footballer had its masterpiece, a finish any genuine number nine would admire from substitute Phil Foden's delicious pass. One-nil, and that was how it stayed, a fine result from a taxing evening.

City manager Pep Guardiola had joked about the perception that he can "overthink" in big games in the build-up to this tussle, and he fooled those who cooked up the team sheet that reckoned on De Bruyne occupying a wide-right midfield role.

Of course he cropped up there at times, on the left too, and at times in the centre of midfield, but De Bruyne spent just as much time as the further City man forward, chasing lost causes, closing down, doing the donkey work.

This latest landmark appearance for City – coming so soon after his 200th Premier League appearance for the leaders on Saturday – ended in triumph where it could have been frustration, or been worse.

You see, sometimes great artists do silly things, like slicing off an ear or headbutting Marco Materazzi, and when De Bruyne chopped down Joao Felix in the 34th minute to cut short an Atletico counter-attack, it looked like being a costly error.

A yellow card was surely coming, and with De Bruyne already a booking away from suspension, City would have lost him for the second leg of this tie. Referee Istvan Kovacs kept the card in his pocket and an incredulous Diego Simeone, the Atletico head coach, had to be asked to cool it by the man with the whistle. Simeone might be known for his histrionics, but this seemed eminently excusable.

De Bruyne has entered the imperial phase of his City career, with records and landmarks stacking up alongside trophies. But the Champions League is the trophy City and De Bruyne want now, and it is the obdurate brilliance of teams such as Atletico that they must find a way past to reach that goal.

When Guardiola substituted Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in the 68th minute, bringing on Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, he called De Bruyne over to the touchline too, passing on a word or two of advice. De Bruyne had seen a free-kick well saved by Jan Oblak, but was otherwise being stifled, and when he was not being stifled he was looking thoroughly fed up in the rain.

Barely two minutes after the Pep talk and the goal arrived, local lad Foden with a pass from the gods and the finish doing it justice.

De Bruyne came into this game having made more assists in the Champions League than any other player from an English club since his City debut in the competition in September 2015. To those 17 assists – only Neymar (25), Kylian Mbappe (20) and Angel Di Maria (18) have had more – De Bruyne has now added 11 goals.

Five of his previous 10 had come from outside the box, but this was a striker's goal, running in behind and lashing into the left corner.

A head injury forced De Bruyne to abandon last season's Champions League final, and City will want to be sure he is present and correct should they get through to the showpiece again.

A tricky second leg awaits them next week at the Wanda Metropolitano, then potentially a semi-final. But De Bruyne's strike was as admirable as City's persistence against an Atletico side who repeatedly got every man back inside their final third at the behest of their strutting boss, and it was the sort of result that had the home fans at the Etihad Stadium dreaming once again.

During the international break, De Bruyne and wife Michele took 24 hours away in Paris, and it will be the French capital that stages the Champions League final in May.

City might be there. De Bruyne's time, City's time, might be coming.

It is always fascinating when polar opposites collide. 

In the Premier League, Pep Guardiola's methodical Manchester City are leading the way, up against the juggernaut of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

While Guardiola and Klopp are by no means cut from the same cloth, they do share similarities in their approach; relentless pressing, rapid counter-pressing and machine-like efficiency.

Yet in Diego Simeone, it is difficult to imagine an elite-level coach that contrasts with Guardiola quite so much. On Tuesday, we will see just how the styles match up.

It has been almost six years since a team coached by Guardiola went up against Simeone's Atletico Madrid, when Bayern Munich faced Los Colchoneros in the Champions League semi-finals.

Simeone triumphed on that occasion, albeit on away goals. Atleti went on to lose to city rivals Real Madrid in the final, while Guardiola has only been further in UEFA's competition once since then – last season, when City lost to Chelsea in the final in Porto.

Indeed, only three times in total have Simeone and Guardiola gone up against each other. Pep holds the edge in terms of wins (at least on the night), 2-1, with his Barcelona side seeing off Atleti 2-1 in LaLiga in February 2012, during his final season at Camp Nou.

Another two games will be added to that head-to-head record over the coming weeks in a Champions League quarter-final tie that represents a true clash of styles.

Possession obsession

Guardiola's death by a thousand cuts approach has yielded unprecedented success. City are a joy to watch at their best. Slick, swift, sublime. Everything you would associate with a team at the very top of the game.

As has been the case throughout his managerial career, Guardiola wants to dominate possession, control the opposition by simply not allowing them to have the ball and, if they do have it, then you can bet his team will win it back within seconds, or commit a timely foul (Fernandinho, anyone?).

Just taking this season into account, City average 66.9 per cent possession across all competitions, while they have attempted 30,155 passes, completing 27,067 (at an average of 601 successful passes per game).

Simeone is far less concerned with his side having the ball, but instead the focus is on staying compact and robust defensively, drawing a mistake – a stray pass, a heavy touch – out of the opposition and pouncing. And in relative terms, his approach has been just as successful.

Not that this is Simeone's approach across the board. Atleti have played some wonderful football during his tenure too, and had some sensational attacking players. Indeed, their current frontline options of Joao Felix, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Matheus Cunha is the envy of most teams.

Yet this season, Atleti average only 48.8 per cent possession across 41 matches. They have completed 14,533 passes, with 7,317 of these coming in the opponents' half. In comparison, City have registered almost 16,000 successful passes in opposition territory.

However, the difference is not so stark when it comes to balls played into the box, with City's 1,730 accounting for 11 per cent of their passes in the opposition half. That value jumps to 16.5 per cent for Atleti (1,209).

Simeone's men get a higher proportion of their passes in the other team's half into the area, though City have had 1,870 touches in the opposition box, with Atleti managing 964.

In the league alone, City have had 715 sequences involving 10 or more passes. In LaLiga, Atleti have had just 278.

City's possession does, of course, lead to shots – 837 of them this season in total. That dwarves Atleti's 490, though the Spanish side do have a better conversion rate (14.7 compared to 13.5).

Fierce off the ball

One similarity when it comes to Guardiola and Simeone is their desire to be aggressive in their approach to winning the ball back. While Guardiola's team will swarm an opposing player, Simeone's men will be tenacious and full-blooded.

So far this season, Atletico players have gone into 4,263 duels, while City have attempted 3,848. However, the success rate is closer, with the Spanish champions winning 52 per cent, and City 51.1.

Another major difference, however, is how City press.

In the Premier League, only Liverpool (354) and Brighton and Hove Albion (290) have forced more high turnovers than City (285), and Guardiola's side rank second when it comes to the average starting distance of their attacks from their own goal (45.1 metres).

When it comes to passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA), a measurement to quantify the extent and aggression of high presses, City rank joint-second, along with Liverpool, in the Premier League, with their 9.9 only bettered by Leeds United's 9.5.

Atleti's 207 high turnovers ranks ninth in LaLiga. However, their seven goals from direct attacks is joint-best in Spain's top tier. City have scored four times from such breaks this term.

Solidity comes first

This season, admittedly, Atleti have been unusually sloppy at the back, conceding 50 times and keeping 12 clean sheets, which is 17 more and 10 fewer than City, respectively.

Tracked over the previous five full seasons, however (since Guardiola joined City in 2016), only once have Atleti conceded more times than City, in 2018-19 (44 to 39).

Guardiola's teams take more risks in possession and City have made 42 errors leading to goals across his time at the club. It's been worth the pay off, but Simeone's more conservative approach has yielded just 21 such mistakes in the same timeframe.

Defensive grit is the bedrock of Simeone's success, and since the start of 2016-17, Atleti have kept 144 clean sheets. Yet, it is City who top the charts across Europe's top five leagues, with an outstanding 152.

Given City have scored 113 goals already this season – 41 more than Atleti – perhaps this quarter-final will not quite be as even as it might have been in seasons gone by, and it is the side from Manchester who must be considered favourites.

But, as proved with their clinical display at Old Trafford in the round of 16, Atleti still have the ability to frustrate and pick their moments to shine in attack. 

This is further evidenced by Atleti's LaLiga-leading expected goals (xG) differential of +8.5 this season. In stark contrast, City have scored 6.2 goals fewer than the quality of their opportunities would have suggested.

However the tie plays out, it is sure to be an enthralling tussle.

Tuesday's Champions League fixtures feature two of the tournament favourites, but there are no easy games when the competition reaches the quarter-finals.

Manchester City are the bookmakers' favourites to lift the trophy but will need to safely navigate their way past 2020-21 LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid, starting with Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool are right behind City in the odds, but the Reds face a tough trip to Portugal where they will play Benfica after the home side triumphed over a strong Ajax team in the previous round.

While the English teams are well fancied, the Opta facts show Atleti coach Diego Simeone should not be daunted by City boss Pep Guardiola, and Benfica's Estadio da Luz has been anything but a happy hunting ground for Liverpool.

Manchester City v Atletico Madrid

This will be the first ever meeting between City and Atleti in European competition, but the fourth between the respective bosses of the two clubs. None of the previous three games ended in a draw, as Guardiola won two and Simeone triumphed in the other.

While Simeone is down on the head-to-head record, his Atleti side eliminated Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the 2015-16 Champions League (2-2 on aggregate), progressing on away goals. 

Showing his side can win ugly, across the two legs, Atletico averaged just 27 per cent possession and scored their two goals from 18 shots, while Bayern netted the same number of goals from 53 attempts.

City should have some reliable avenues to goal, as only Vinicius Junior (44) has been directly involved in more shots than Riyad Mahrez (42 – 29 shots, 13 chances created) in the Champions League this season. 

One of Mahrez's chief suppliers is likely to be Kevin De Bruyne, who will make his 50th Champions League appearance for City if he plays in the first leg.

Since his first season at the club in 2015-16, he has more assists than any other player for an English club (17) in the competition. 

However, Atleti may be uniquely positioned to repel some of City's attacking firepower, as no goalkeeper has kept more Champions League clean sheets since 2014-15 than Jan Oblak, with 30 clean sheets in 67 appearances.

Meanwhile, City have only failed to score in one of their 28 home games under Guardiola.

Atleti are also the first side to face both Manchester United and Manchester City in the knockout stages of a European competition in a season since Juventus in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup – the Italian side would go on to progress from both of those ties before winning the whole thing.

Liverpool v Benfica 

Liverpool are aiming to win a fifth consecutive away game in Europe's premier competition for only the second time in their history, having last done so between 1983 and 1984 under Joe Fagan.

While Liverpool are a very different beast in recent years under Jurgen Klopp, they have lost on each of their last three away trips to face Benfica in European competition, with the most recent of those coming in the Europa League in 2009-10 under Rafa Benítez.

On the other hand, Benfica are winless in their past four homes matches against English sides in the Champions League since beating Liverpool in 2006, with one draw and three losses.

The home side will need a big performance from Darwin Nunez, who is Benfica’s top scorer in the Champions League this season, having netted four times so far. He is just one goal shy of equalling Nuno Gomes as the player with the most goals for Benfica in a single Champions League campaign (five goals in 1998-99).

Meanwhile, Liverpool boast one of the main hopes for the Ballon D'or in Mohamed Salah, who has scored eight goals in the Champions League this season and could become the first player to score 10+ goals in multiple seasons for the Reds in the competition. 

The only other player from an English club to reach double-figure goals in a European Cup/Champions League campaign on more than one occasion was Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2001-02 and 2002-03 for Manchester United.

Benfica will need to be efficient going forward, as their 40 per cent possession in the Champions League this season is the lowest of any remaining team, while only Real Madrid (23) have recorded more direct attacks than the Portuguese side.

Diego Simeone hailed the football that Manchester City produce but promised Atletico Madrid will play where they can hurt Pep Guardiola's side in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

Atleti overcame Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate in their last-16 clash to tee up the first-ever meeting in Europe between the Spanish side and City, who cruised past Sporting in the last round.

However, Simeone and Guardiola are no stranger to one another given they have faced each other three times, with the former eliminating the Spaniard's Bayern Munich in the 2015-16 Champions League semi-final.

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 Simeone's team progressed on away goals.

Simeone was quick to praise City's flowing attacking performances, but insisted his side will look to exploit any potential weaknesses in the City line-up on Tuesday.

"What I like most from teams like City is the effort they have to win the ball back and continue to play attacking," he said at a pre-match news conference. "They're lovely to watch.

"They continue evolving because they have great players but what wakes me up, the important things are [Raheem] Sterling, [Kevin] De Bruyne, they're always active, never leave a ball lost. All managers want that."

He added: "We'll play where we think we can hurt them, use our characteristics the way we've played for years. We play to compete and we'll see."

Indeed, the reigning LaLiga champions will become the first side to face both Manchester clubs in the knockout stages of a European competition in a season since Juventus in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup.

Juve progressed from both of those ties before winning the competition that season, but Simeone's focus remains solely on the Etihad Stadium.

"We all have pressure, I don't know if pressure is the right word," he responded when asked if City were favourites to win the Champions League. 

"We all have it but no doubt City have extraordinary players and I'm sure they have better players than us.

"All clubs in the last eight want to win the competition. There are great rivals in all knockout games and I hope we can win.

"There are two games to play. City and Bayern are favourites because they have more options in their squads but last year not many expected Chelsea to win; they got better and played a good tournament."

Guardiola joked he would "overthink" to take a different approach to what Simeone might expect, but Atleti's coach is uninterested in all of the commotion between the managerial pair facing off again.

"Not at all, City and Atletico have great squads, very competitive with good players, different characteristics," he said when asked if it was Pep versus Simeone.

"They have a lot of personality. Tomorrow is a game for footballers, we as coaches try and help them and we'll do the same. I'll say again, I like watching City play."

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.