Micah Richards believes that if Manchester City faced Atletico Madrid in a potential Champions League this season, that could be a worry for them.
After City beat Copenhagen in the Round of 16 of the competition, their manager Jacob Neestrup backed the treble-winners to go all the way in Europe once again.
Several fans and pundits alike would perhaps echo the Danish tactician’s statement, as Pep Guardiola’s men do look like the best team in the competition.
Micah Richards says Atletico Madrid “could hurt” Manchester City in a potential Champions League final this season
Jamie Carragher claimed in February that he would have wanted Arsenal to meet Manchester City in the last eight as he felt they were one of the only few teams capable of knocking them out.
In the meantime, the Sky Blues have the daunting task of beating Real Madrid in the quarter-finals over two legs, which is as challenging a task as there is in football.
But Micah Richards feels that if Manchester City faced Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final this season, the Spanish giants could make it a tricky game for the English juggernaut.
“It’s tough because if you look at the side of the Champions League draw, they’ve obviously got Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, then [they] could meet Bayern or Arsenal”, he said onThe Rest Is Football podcast.
“And then people need to look at Atletico Madrid as well. They beat a really good Inter Milan side who on the night I thought probably deserved to win and they will just bore the life out of the game. Everyone knows the job, it’s so drilled tactically.”
“Just maybe, on a one-off if they were to get to the final, Man City, maybe Atletico is the one team I feel, if they were to go past Real Madrid of course that could hurt them tactically.”
Manchester City would certainly find that game difficult
While Manchester City would be fancied to beat Atletico Madrid by most, Micah Richards is right in claiming that a Champions League final between those two this season would be a tough contest for the former.
Unlike City, Atleti are yet to win the competition.
However, Diego Simeone’s side have reached the final twice and only lost to legendary Real Madrid sides.
In addition, one of La Liga’s biggest clubs is also capable of frustrating the Sky Blues if they choose to prioritise an excessively defensive setup; an approach they have walked away from in recent years.
Then again, Manchester City did prove in the 2021/2022 season that they are capable of playing Atletico Madrid at their own game in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
On the night, Pep Guardiola’s men smartly won cheap fouls, ran the clock down and defended valiantly, while winning the first leg and with the quality as well as pedigree they have, as much of a challenge as it would be to defeat them in a one-off clash, it would also be doable if they met each other at Wembley Stadium.