Diego Simeone slams Pep Guardiola for “praising him with contempt” after Atletico Madrid’s brawl with Man City

DIEGO SIMEONE suggested Pep Guardiola treated him and his side with “contempt” after Manchester City threw Atletico Madrid out of the Champions League.

Wednesday’s cup game in Spain was marred by ugly clashes between sides, but Pep’s City prevailed 0-0 and secured a place in the semi-finals with a 1-0 aggregate win.

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Atletico defender Felipe received a second yellow card and was sent off for a dangerous comeback from Phil Foden.

The Brazilian had also caught England star Foden with an arm that was bleeding early in the game.

It paved the way for clashes between both groups of players at the end of a dramatic night at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Tensions continued until the very end in the tunnel, with insults between opposing players being caught on camera.

When the dust settled, Simeone was asked in a press conference if Pep disregarded him and Atleti’s defensive play.

El Cholo replied, “I don’t have to have that opinion — I don’t think he’s going to speak badly or well.

“Often people who are really good talkers and really smart people manage to praise you with contempt.

“But those of us who might have smaller vocabularies aren’t that stupid either.”

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Guardiola said he was relieved to see his side survived the toughest tests, adding: “I have a lot of respect for Atletico, they have a lot of merit in what they do.

“They can play how they want. I’ve never criticized Atletico’s game and what Diego Simeone does, he knows better than anyone in the world.”

City’s reward for holding off Atleti is a showdown in the last four with their derby rivals Real Madrid, who beat Chelsea on Tuesday.