Madrid: Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will play a rematch of last season’s Champions League semifinal when the two sides meet at the Vicente Calderon Stadium here Wednesday.
The group game between the two clubs could go a long way to determining not only who qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, but also who finish top of their group after both teams won their opening CL games.
Last season saw Atletico triumph against Bayern to book their place in the final, and this season Diego Simeone’s side have turned things around after a slow start to their campaign to move into third place in their domestic league with four straight wins.
Atletico will be without midfielder Augusto Fernandez, who will miss the rest of the season after tearing his cruciate knee ligament during Sunday’s La Liga win at home to Deportivo la Coruna, while Jose Gimenez is also out with a groin injury. Stefan Savic and Gabi are expected to be named in Atletico’s starting team, while Simeone could also make changes in attack with Fernando Torres or Kevin Gameiro accompanying the in-form Antoine Griezmann, who has netted five league goals this season.
In spite of the win over Bayern last season, Simeone asserted that his side will have to raise their level by quite a few notches to get the better of the German giants. “You can’t deny pedigree, can you,” he asked reporters here Tuesday. “They (Bayern) have the pedigree, there’s no doubt about that. We really have to peak to get the better of them.”
Meanwhile, the Bavarian giants who are so far unbeaten in the season are also aware of the threat that the Spanish team posses. “They are very formidable, more so when they are playing at home,” stated newly-appointed coach Carlo Ancelotti. “The good thing however, is that we have an injury-free squad and will have the services of Mats Hummel, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. All three have recovered sufficiently to play the game.”
Wednesday also sees Spanish champions FC Barcelona in action as they travel to face Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach in what should be an emotive night for goalkeeper Ter Stegen, who returns to his home town to face his former club.
Barcelona will be without star striker Lionel Messi, who is still sidelined with a groin injury. They have shown a pragmatic side of late, bagging a 5-0 win away to Sporting Gijon in La Liga at the weekend. Regular players Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta were all rested for that game and will go into the side, Wednesday.
In another crucial encounter, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will take on Celtic at home. City have been in imperious form this season and will start huge favourites with forward Raheem Sterling determined to torture former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers who is managing Celtic.
Agencies
