Atletico Madrid face Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday at home as they look to overturn the round-of-16 tie and progress to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid host Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16. Playing at home, Atletico will have to win the game in order to overturn the first leg deficit of the 1-0 defeat in Germany. It will be tough for Atletico considering their recent run of form in which they have only managed to score one goal in the last four games.
Diego Simeone spoke to the press ahead of the game and stressed on how important the fans will be and he expects them to cheer their team throughout the game.
Simeone said: a I want a CalderA?n that is always cheering us on to make us try harder to achieve a lot of things we have. I hope and wish therea s not a silent moment at the Stadium.a
The Atletico boss also spoke about how his team should play in order to avoid an early exit from the tournament.
a Bayer is a very vertical team, which has little possession of the ball, is very direct in its plays and those are its best virtues as a team. It has great speed with the three players at the front and has a lot of forward game. Wea ll have to counter these situations which were hard for us to solve in the first time in Germany.a The coach told a press conference.
“If we don’t concede but we don’t score, it’s no good. The objective is to win the game.a
Simeone refused to concede who will start the game and said that he will tell the team on Tuesday.
“I have not spoken to them. I will tell them on Tuesday when we get together,” he said.
Koke, who missed the first leg of the game is back in the pecking order and Simeone was not short of words, praising the midfielder and appreciating the impact he makes.
Simeone said: “Koke, football-wise, is one of the versatile midfielders who best reads the game and, above all, who holds different places in the midfield and always with a very good peripheral vision. He thinks offensively from the control. And when hea s in his best version, he allows us to have a more dynamic game thanks to his mental speed.“
Atletico Madrid must win the game on Tuesday if they wish to progress to the quarter-finals after ending up as the runners-up last season. However, it will be tough for Los Rojiblancos to overturn the 1-0 deficit of the first leg.
