Pep Guardiola had nothing but praise for Atalanta after Manchester City’s 5-1 victory. “They have a very special way of playing football and took us to the limit.”
“We knew that Atalanta would take us to the limit, that there would be chances at both ends constantly,” Guardiola told Sky Sport Italia in fluent Italian.
“They know what to do with the ball, play very well and take you into difficult situations. It’s no coincidence they qualified for the Champions League, they have a very special way of playing football.
“When we can run, we have our chances, when they can run, then they have theirs. We have one more game to qualify and hope it goes well.
“This is a long process. We saw Atalanta were 3-0 up against Lazio and drew 3-3, they beat Roma 2-0 a few weeks ago. This is why I give my players a lot of credit for this victory, because it was extremely tough.”