Atletico need the Europa League cup
Last time Atletico Madrid won the the eurotrophy in 2012, when they managed to defeat Athletic Bilbao, 3:0, in the finals. After that, Diego Simeone’s team participated twice in the Champions League finals and both times lost to their irreconcilable neighbors from Santiago Bernabeu.
Having easily advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals, the team from Wanda Metropolitano has nowhere to retreat. And they don’t have to. The Indians passed through Copenhagen in the two-match confrontation 5:1 on aggregate and destroyed Lokomotiv Moscow, 8:1. The club’s leading forward Antoine Griezmann scored ten goals in all competitions in the last seven matches. The player intends to leave the Mattressers in the summer, therefore he has to work with twice as hard.
Sporting are not mastodons of the Portuguese football. The team from Lisbon lost 1:0 to Braga last weekend and has conceded away in sixteen consecutive matches. In the round of 16, Jorge Jesus’ team managed to score a victorious goal in the net of Viktoria Plzen and advance to the top eight teams of the Europa League.
The Lions’ main problem is considered to be slow and aging defense. If the 28-year old Sebastian Coates cannot be called old, then Jeremy Mathieu often loses his player and can’t keep up shutting down a free space. The same goes for the 30-year old Fabio Coentrao. It is suicide to play against the brisk Griezmann with such line of defense.
Atletico have focused on the Europa League. The team has been eliminated from the Spanish Cup and in Primera the outcome of the championship race was decided in the match against Barcelona, in which the Indians lost 1:0.
Atletico head coach Diego Simeone said in an interview that he is only interested in the team’s progress and playing in certain tournaments:
“Today we are concentrated on the Europa League and later we will shift to La Liga. I can understand the media interest to the information about which tournaments and which matches are in priority for one team or another. But in our case the main goal is the team’s progress, the improvement of game quality. For now I am happy with the process and proud of my players”.
Despite the squad problems, which have been following Simeone from the start of the season, Atletico have more chances to advance. Despite the injuries of Juanfran, Vrsaljko and Filipe Luis, the Mattressers to play on counter-attacks. The important thing for the Argentine manager of Atletico, that Coke is in the squad, who can give a vertical pass on Griezmann in time or Diego Costa. Therefore, Atletico’s advancement to semi-finals should be taken for granted.
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