Atletico Madrid's Playing Style Called 'Disgraceful' By Former Real Madrid Player

Antonio Cassano has ripped into Diego Simeone, and his Atletico Madrid team's style of play, claiming the draw to Manchester City was played with 'disgraceful' football.

Atletico came under a lot of criticism during their recent Champions League elimination at the hands of Premier League leaders City, in the quarter finals.

The Spanish side seemed hell bent on not losing the first leg in England, playing a 5-5-0 formation, eventually being undone by Phil Foden late in the game, and didn't record a single shot.

It led to Dutch legend Marco van Basten claiming that fans would 'rather watch Netflix' than Simeone's team play football, although considering Netflix's recent drop in subscriptions that might not be 100% true.

The second game was a bit of an improvement from Simeone's side, as far as attacking went, but there was some questionable tactics late in the game.

Now Cassano, a former Real Madrid player, has criticised the team's style of play, and brandished 'disgraceful.'

"Atletico Madrid's playstyle is disgraceful," the former Roma player told his Twitch stream.

"In football you have to play, create goalscoring opportunities. You can't only think about defending."

It's not the first time Simeone has been criticised. Image: PA Images

Ironically in the second leg, in Madrid, it was Atleti who had more chances in the game than Pep Guardiola's team, and looked more likely to score.

However it was the antics at the end of the game that riled many in football, especially as Stefan Savic lost his cool with Jack Grealish and pulled the City forward's hair.

The defender and the England international were then involved in a brawl in the tunnel after full time, with the police even having to get involved.

After the game Simeone was asked about helping local rivals Real, after their win over Chelsea set up a semi-final against City, so he walked out of the press conference.

Ironically Simeone wasn't happy with the referee after the City loss. Image: PA Images

It's not just in Europe where the team have struggled for goals recently, with Atleti only bagging twice in the past three games in La Liga, and not having many chances on targets.

Their troubles in front of goal have seen them drop below Barcelona and are only four points clear of fifth place Real Betis in the race to finish in the top four and qualify for next season's Champions League.

Topics: La Liga, Spain, Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone, Champions League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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