Football news - Xavi hails Manchester City but calls Atletico Madrid 'masters of boring football'
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ByEurosport
Updated 05/11/2018 at 11:56 GMT
Xavi has heaped praise on the style of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City while claiming Diego Simeone has mastered the art of boring football at Atletico Madrid.
Al-Sadd's captain Xavi (C) dribbles the ball past Al-Ahli's Waleed Bakshwn (R) during the AFC Champions League football match between Qatar's Al-Sadd club and Saudi's Al-Ahli team at the Jassim Bin Hamas Stadium.
Image credit: Eurosport
The former Barcelona captain, who now plays for Al-Sadd in Qatar, has admitted that he is "bored by most football teams" because they are "too slow".
The Champions League and World Cup winner cites Diego Simeone's Atletico as a team that are more interested in stopping opponents than playing football.
But the 38-year-old midfielder has also named former manager Guardiola's City and Spanish teams Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis as teams who operate with the right philosophy.
“I am bored by most football teams I watch, their play is too slow,” Xavi is quoted as saying in the Spanish media.
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Best sporting pictures of 2015 - Barcelona v Juventus - UEFA Champions League Final - Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, 6/6/15: Barcelona's Xavi celebrates with the trophy and team mates after winning the UEFA Champions League
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“Many teams now set up with just one forward and do not want to play with the ball, it is the opposite of what I am used to and how I will coach any team.
Football now is about closing down space and restricting the opposition, and you can see this more than anywhere with Simeone’s Atletico.
“They are really difficult to score against because they do not want the ball, they believe domination is controlling the spaces available to the opposition.
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Antoine Griezmann celebrates an Atletico goal with his team-mates
Image credit: Getty Images
He has convinced his players this is the only tactic they can used to compete with Barcelona and Madrid, but all the players believe it so that shows it has been a success.
“What teams do I enjoy? (Eduardo) Berizzo’s Athletic Club because of their intensity and lack of pragmatism, and I like (Quique) Setien’s Real Betis, they play with original ideas.
“Of course, I really like watching Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.”
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