Diego Simeone’s side face a daunting task when they host their city rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg at the Vicente Calderon. Atletico look for a miracle at the Vicente Calderon as Real Madrid plan on spoiling their farewell party.
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Atletico have a mountain to climb when they face their arch rivals Los Blancos on Wednesday night. The Rojiblancos could not have thought of worst possible start to this two-legged fixture as the find themselves 3:0 down on aggregate after they were humiliated by Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu a week earlier.
And if Atletico wants to be in the Welsh capital in the June to contest in this year’s Champions league final in Cardiff they will have to make history. No side has ever overturned a two goal-goal semi-final deficit before. This will be the last European game to be played at Vincente Calderon as Atletico will be shift to their new residence in the brand-new Wanda Metropolitano next season. Atletico will surely be aiming to give a massive goodbye to their magical arena Vincente Calderon.
Meanwhile Los Blancos could not have asked for a better start to their semi-final campaign as they demolished their close rivals by 3:0 in the first leg of semi-final. A magical performance by the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo sank Atletico Madrid’s chances of progressing into the final.
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Real Madrid are on a great run as they aim for a double this season by winning the League title and Champions league title as well. Real Madrid come into the match by easily defeating Granada CF over the weekend by 0:4 in the La Liga, while Atletico Madrid saw a narrow victory against SD Eibar on match day 36 which will help them calm their nerves when they host Real Madrid.
The Rojiblancos have actually been present in two of the last three champions league finals – losing to Real Madrid on both the occasions – but it is going to take a miracle to advance this time around if Diego Simeone’s men are to progress into the finals.
This is the fourth season in succession that these city rivals face off in the champions league knockout phase; Atletico are yet to claim victory during this recent run. Menwhile Real Madrid have reached the Champions league semis for the 7th consecutive season, a record in the history of the tournament.
Atletico Madrid has won 17 out of their 22 Champions league home games under Diego Simeone, their only defeat came against Benifica in September 2015. They have kept a clean sheet in 16 of their last 18 champions league games at the Vincente Calderon. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 103 goals in the Champions league, three more than whole Atletico Madrid.
Can Real go on to make to the final and potentially make history by retaining the Champions league title, as no team has done it before? Or will Atletico Madrid create history by giving a magical performance inside the Vincente Calderon one last time and achieve their biggest ever comeback.
