Atlético Madrid will play for a place in the UEFA Champions League last 16 on Tuesday night when they welcome Club Brugge KV to the Estadio Metropolitano.
With this play-off round tie poised at 3-3 from last week’s topsy-turvy first leg in Belgium, Atleti will be well aware of the threat their opponents will bring to the second leg in the Spanish capital.
Although Los Rojiblancos twice led at the Jan Breydel Stadium, they were second-best for much of the match, and a draw looked a fair result by the end.
This will be the sixth time Diego Simeone has come up against Brugge, with only one occasion proving to be successful. That was back in the group stage of the 2018/19 edition of the tournament, when Atleti prevailed 3-1 thanks to goals from Koke and Antoine Griezmann. Who would have thought those two players would be needed to play such an important role in the same fixture nearly eight years on?
At home, Atlético have never lost to a team hailing from Belgium, winning four and drawing one of the five encounters. Most recently before this tie, they managed a 3-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise earlier on during this European campaign. At home, Atleti had looked imperious all season before tripping up against Bodø/Glimt and Real Betis in successive games a few weeks ago, giving no indication to the betting person as to which side to throw the money towards for this match.
Club Brugge’s recent record against Spanish sides is perhaps more noteworthy; they boast an impressive six-match unbeaten run against LALIGA opposition. In that time they’ve won two and drawn four, picking up a 3-3 result during the league phase of this year’s UCL against FC Barcelona.
Team news
The team was quickly back on the training field following Saturday’s convincing win in LALIGA over RCD Espanyol, working in groups based on game time at the Cerro de Espino facility on the outskirts of Madrid.
Two players who were absent were Pablo Barrios and Nico González, who both remained sidelined through injury. Barrios was taken off during Atleti’s thumping of Betis in the Copa del Rey on February 5, and is doing all he can to return to the side to take on FC Barcelona in the second leg of the same competition’s semi-final on March 3.
Jan Oblak‘s recent run of eight goals conceded in three games has his name banding around social media calling for a switch to Juan Musso between the sticks. However, to make it absolutely clear for those at the back: Oblak is Atlético Madrid’s greatest-ever goalkeeper and under no circumstances whatsoever will he be dropped for the second-choice goalkeeper for a Champions League knock-out match without injury playing a part. Thank you.
Nahuel Molina and Matteo Ruggeri both came under fire last week for how they handled Club Brugge’s wide attackers, so it will be interesting to see if they are called upon once more. One reason for Molina’s inclusion was the injury to Barrios that forced Marcos Llorente into the middle of the park. Should he have to give up that spot, Johnny Cardoso would gladly fill it after his good performance at the weekend.
Llorente’s physicality was key in nullifying that of Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika, but the Nigerian’s yellow card in the first leg suspends him for Tuesday’s battle. That could be key to Simeone’s selection, potentially allowing Cardoso to start and Rodrigo Mendoza some Champions League debut minutes.
How El Cholo lines up from there onwards is becoming more of a guessing game recently, but key starters Koke, Giuliano Simeone and Ademola Lookman will most likely maintain their places from the off. Julián Alvarez needs goal involvements to get him back into top form, but the way Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth were looking on Saturday could have the manager thinking of an alternative to la araña.
Predicted lineup
Oblak; Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri; Giuliano, Koke, Cardoso, Lookman; Griezmann, Alvarez.
