With “El Papa’s” blessing we did well in Rome last week. But the weekend after we received our third draw in a row. Not everything is perfect but we are on a solid path upwards. With several key players injured and the curious resigning of Lazio’s coach Reja, we should be up to the task and gain some self-confidence with a victory helping towards the Barcelona match next weekend. Of course we may not take things for granted and be careful of a Lazio side which could be very surprising.
At. Madrid
SS LazioVenue: Vicente Calderon(Capacity 54,960)
Kick Off: 23/02/2012 21:05(CET)
With “El Papa’s” blessing we did well in Rome last week. But the weekend after we received our third draw in a row. Not everything is perfect but we are on a solid path upwards. With several key players injured and the curious resigning of Lazio’s coach Reja, we should be up to the task and gain some self-confidence with a victory helping towards the Barcelona match next weekend. Of course we may not take things for granted and be careful of a Lazio side which could be very surprising.
Atlético News
‘El Cholo’ spoke with alarming words during this week’s press conference: “”I am more afraid of Lazio now than if they were in a comfortable situation, because I played for eight years in Italy and I know they do not give up.” Juanfran added: “We played a great game and what we have to do is not waste it. We made a great effort, great on all lines and the game was incredible. Tomorrow we will go out with the same passion and enthusiasm as last week.”
Those kind of phrases are always said if a team is in a comfortable situation before a tie like we face today. The players have to prove today that they are not thinking about the upcoming weekend already. But nevertheless it’s hard to see us losing with this winning margin, as we only lost one game this season in the fortress Vicente Calderón.
The tough decision Simeone has to take is the absence of playmaker Diego. The Brazilian is out for a whole month because of a thigh injury. It is Koke’s big chance now to shine and prove to everybody that he is up for the task. Koke played in 12 matches so far this season, mostly as being brought on the pitch as a joker in the dying minutes. Against Sociedad he assisted twice after he was brought on and it will be interesting to see now if he can deliver on a regular basis. Simeone changed his nutrition which allowed him to gain three kilos and gain some muscles.
Arda Turan seems to be fit again and might feature tomorrow, as well as Tiago who might replace the suspensioned Mario. The official squad is not announced so far but according to the official Atlético Madrid Twitter account it will be published tomorrow at noon.
Possible Starting XI
Opposition News
Chaos reigns at Lazio at the moment. After their loss against our team they also lost against Palermo the weekend after with 1:5. As things couldn’t be worse coach Edy Reja sent in his resignation yesterday. He decided to travel with the team to Madrid and he might even sit on the bench today but it will most likely be his last game. It is said that he had some arguments with the club owners due to the transfer policy.
Another downer is the absence of striker Miroslav Klose. The guy who ended Thibaut Courtois clean sheet streak received a back injury and was even substituted after 45 minutes during the Palermo match. Apart from him there are five more players unavailable for tomorrow.
One To Watch
With Klose,Radu, Brocchi, Biava, Stankevičius and Rocchi out due to injuries there are several second team players stepping up. One can basically say that the whole team is to watch as they can only emerge if everybody keeps fighting for everybody.
Previous Encounters
The first leg seven days ago ended with a 3:1 victory away from home. Goals by Adrián and Falcao are lifting the team to a great chance of progressing into the next round. If we succeed we would play against Besiktas Istanbul or Sporting Braga. The Turkish side won the first leg away from home with 2:0.
Other Info
The club wants to create a great atmosphere tomorrow. Every one of the 28.000 full season ticket holders is able to attend the game for free. It is also said that about 2.500 Lazio supporters are coming to Madrid tomorrow for the game.
Manchester City has asked Atlético Madrid for goalkeeper Joel. They watched his progress for a while now and are keen to buy him next summer.
Atlético Madrid published a new series of videos giving the fans an inside into the team. There was a short movie filmed last week in Rome. At one part of the clip you could see the dressing room which was full of motivational pictures from our 2010 Europa League victory. In the video they asked a team kitman about the pictures: “It’s an order of the coach, to motivate the players. He likes to motivate them so.”