Atletico plot Champions League revenge against Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid's Argentinian coach Diego Simeone (C) and his players take part in a training session at Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on April 13, 2015 on the eve of their UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg football match against Real Madrid. PHOTO: AFP
Two minutes were all that Diego Simeone’s men had to hold on to lift their first-ever Champions League trophy at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon last year.
Those two minutes came back to haunt the reigning Spanish champions after a spectacular campaign had seen the Rojiblancos top their group, eliminate giants AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea in the round-of-16 and reach the final for the first time since 1974.
In the final they came up against their Madrid neighbours Real — the first time in the competition’s history that two teams from the city clashed in the final.
Atletico had broken the duopoly of Real and Barcelona in the league and succeeded in lifting the domestic title for the first time since 1996. They were in spectacular form and a ‘red and white’ celebration in Lisbon would have been a fairytale ending to a remarkable season for the unfancied side.
However, fairytale endings are quite rare and May 24, 2014 had no such finale for Atletico as just minutes before the final whistle, Sergio Ramos planted a powerful header right into the bottom corner to get Real back on level terms and take the game into extra time.
Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo added one each in extra time to overpower the depleted underdogs and Iker Casillas went on to lift the historical La Decima — a feat which had eluded the Spanish giants for more than a decade.
Since then, Atletico have played Real six times this season and have won four and drawn two. This six-match unbeaten run includes wins in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey and a league double, including the 4-0 drubbing at the Vicente Calderon in February — their biggest win over their cross-city rivals in 28 years.
The draws for the quarter-finals paired the city rivals together in a replay of last year’s final, with the first-leg taking place at Atletico’s home on Tuesday, followed by the second-leg on April 22 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Meanwhile, Real have once again found their scoring touch with 14 goals in their last three league matches, and have been on an upward slope since Schalke ended their 10-game Champions League winning streak in March to come within a goal of knocking out the giants.
Los Blancos have racked up these wins without first-team regulars James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Pepe — all three of whom are expected to be back against Atletico. Meanwhile, Bale returned to training on Sunday but did not feature against Eibar and might be fit to play on Tuesday.
Atletico, on the other hand, extended their eight-game unbeaten streak, albeit with four draws in the mix, in all competitions with the 2-2 draw against Malaga.
Mario Mandzukic has been carrying an ankle injury that has kept him out since Atletico’s round-of-16 clash with Bayer Leverkuson but is expected to be available for the clash against Real.
The Croatian has been impressive since signing from Bayern Munich last summer, and has already slotted two in three games against Real this season. Raul Garcia is also expected to recover in time from an elbow problem.
Semi-final dream drives juve, Monaco
In Tuesday’s second quarter-final clash, Juventus take on French club Monaco looking to qualify for their first semi-final since 2003, while Monaco looks to overturn a winless run on Italian soil and qualify for their first semi-final since 2004.
The two sides last met over a decade ago in the 1998 Champions League semi-final where Juventus prevailed with a 6-4 aggregate — winning 4-1 home at home before suffering a 3-2 away loss — where goals from Costinha, Philippe Léonard, Thierry Henry, Robert Spehar, Nicola Amoruso, Alessandro del Piero and Zinédine Zidane lit up the contest.
Monaco have played on Italian soil six times but their record is nothing to write home about — drawing once and losing the other five. Juventus’ home record against French opposition makes for just as ominous reading for the principality club, with the Old Lady having won seven of the nine matches they have played — drawing the other two.
Following up on a highly comfortable 12-point cushion in Serie A in pursuit of a fourth consecutive title, Massimiliano Allegri’s men certainly seem to have the upper hand. However, with midfield star Paul Pogba out with a hamstring and Andre Pirlo having not played since the first-leg against Borussia Dortmund in February, Juve may find themselves short in midfield against an in-form Monaco side on an eight-match unbeaten run.
Carlos Tevez is in form up front, netting 25 times and single-handedly inspiring a 3-0 routing of Borussia Dortmund in the second-leg of their round-of-16 clash. The Italian giants would look to him to breach a defence that has conceded twice in away matches in the competition.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2015.