Manchester City in 'big trouble' after injuries against Atletico, says Pep Guardiola

Premier League champions progressed to the Champions League semi-finals with a 1-0 aggregate win

Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic heat butts Manchester City's Raheem Sterling during the Champions League quarter-final, second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. The match finished 0-0 with City advancing on aggregate. PA

Players fight during the Champions League quarter-final in Madrid. AFP

Players scrap during the Champions League quarter-final at the Wanda Metropolitano. AFP

Players fight during the ill-tempered match. AFP

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola argues with Rodrigo De Paul. Getty

Manchester City players celebrate at the final whistle. Getty

Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak steps inbetween Stefan Savic and City's Raheem Sterling as tempers flare. PA

Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling of Manchester City clash with Jan Oblak and Stefan Savic of Atletico Madrid. Getty

Referee Daniel Siebert gives Felipe of Atletico Madrid a red card. Getty

Atletico's Geoffrey Kondogbia reacts. AFP

Phil Foden goes down injured watched by Marcos Llorente. Getty

Manchester City players celebrate. Getty

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola speaks to Phil Foden. PA

Atletico Madrid's goalkeeper Jan Oblak argues with City players. AP

City's Raheem Sterling clashes with Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic. Action Images

Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak and teammates remonstrate with the referee. Action Images

Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko clash with Atletico Madrid's Marcos Llorente and Stefan Savic. Action Images

Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan watches as Atletico's Geoffrey Kondogbia controls the ball. AP

Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix hits the deck. Reuters

Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic, right, watches as Manchester City's Phil Foden reaches for the ball. AP

Stefan Savic of Atletico Madrid shoots, Getty

Atletico Madrid's Jorge Koke and Manchester City's Rodri battle for the ball. PA

City coach Pep Guardiola watches from the touchline. AFP

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone claps. AFP

Atletico's Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak jumps to clear the ball. AFP

Phil Foden of Manchester City with a bandage on his head. Getty

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed his team is in "big trouble" after collecting injuries to key players during the ill-tempered Champions League quarter-final clash with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

City progressed to the semi-finals 1-0 on aggregate after a goalless draw at the Wanda Metropolitano, and while Guardiola was pleased to keep alive their European ambitions, he was more concerned about the fitness of Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker who were both forced off early.

Having faced Premier League title rivals Liverpool last Sunday prior to the trip to Madrid, City face the Reds again on Saturday in the FA Cup semi-finals. Whereas Liverpool made seven changes to the team for their quarter-final second leg against Benfica, Guardiola made just two for the match in Madrid.

"Today we celebrate because it is the third time in Manchester City's history we are in the Champions League semi-finals," Guardiola told BT Sport. "But we can't forget we played three days ago, travelled, came here, have a lot of injuries now and I don't know what will happen in the next weeks.

"We cannot play all the time and score four or five goals, we are human beings - we come from a difficult game against Liverpool. We are in big trouble."

In an encounter that saw tempers flare, City had to contend with the trademark physicality of Atletico who showed far more ambition that last week's first leg. The Spanish champions had Felipe sent off for a dangerous challenge on Phil Foden, having received an earlier booking for an elbow on the England midfielder. The second foul caused an on-field tussle, which saw Atletico defender Stefan Savic appear to headbutt Raheem Sterling and pull Jack Grealish's hair.

The tension continued after the final whistle, with video footage appearing to show Atletico and City players and staff engaged in heated arguments in the tunnel as police arrived to intervene. There have also been claims that Guardiola had liquid thrown over him but the City manager refused to be drawn into the incident.

"Everyone saw the action, but I have nothing to say," he said. "It is the champion of Spain and they played with energy and, in the second half, were better than us and we were lucky we didn't concede. In the first half we had chances, overall we are in the semi-finals - it is well deserved.

Atletico v Man City player ratings

"The opponent is so tough, all the teams in the Champions League come here and suffer so it is important we go through."

Despite the ugly scenes, Guardiola praised Atletico for their performance and insisted he has nothing against their rugged style of play.

"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 have never criticised Atletico's game and what Diego Simeone does he knows how to do like nobody else in the world."

Atletico manager Simeone, however, was not convinced that Guardiola was being sincere.

"I have no reason to give an opinion about what someone says, good or bad. Very intelligent people with a great lexicon can, with words of praise, despise you. But we that have a lesser lexicon are not stupid," Simeone said.

"I am clear that we are proud of who we are, of how we compete. And I love seeing those who win celebrating it, because it shows once again that the important thing is to win."

Man City now will face the 13-time European champions Real Madrid after they eliminated holders Chelsea on Tuesday.

"They are the Champions League kings, I'm looking forward to it," Guardiola said. "It is the third Champions League semi-final in our history and the second in a row, but if we play like we did in the second half against Atletico, forget it. We won't have anything to do against Real."