Liverpool’s defense of the Champions League sees them return to the scene of last season’s triumph for the first leg of their Round of 16 clash against Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish club welcome the reigning European champions to the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday, and it’s set to be an intriguing battle between two well-drilled teams.
The Reds have all but secured the Premier League title and remain unbeaten in the league this season. A hard-fought victory over Norwich on Saturday means Liverpool have now won 25 of their 26 league games this term, opening up a whopping 25-point lead over second-place Manchester City.
Still, despite their domestic dominance, the English club haven’t had it all their own way in the Champions League this season.
Napoli took four points off the Reds in Group E, leaving them with plenty of work to do against Red Bull Salzburg on Matchday 6. However, Liverpool survived a scare in Austria to book their place in the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, Atletico only managed to win three of their six group games earlier in the campaign. Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus both beat the Madrid outfit before a victory over Lokomotiv Moscow saw Atletico secure second place in Group D.
Diego Simeone’s side have also struggled in La Liga this season. Atletico have done well to keep pace with Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent years, but 10 draws in 24 league games have seen Atletico fail to trouble the top two this time around.
Atletico last faced Liverpool back in 2010 when the two teams met in the Europa League semi-finals. The Spanish side edged the first leg 1-0 before losing 2-1 at Anfield. But Atletico eventually advanced to the final on away goals.
The interesting team news regarding Atletico is the injuries to forward duo Joao Felix and Diego Costa. Both are expected to miss the first leg, while right-back Kieran Tripper is also sidelined.
On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp has a full squad to choose from with the exception of Xherdan Shaqiri. Sadio Mane and Fabinho both came off the bench against Norwich, so they are likely to start on Tuesday.
This is set to be a low-scoring game as both sides look to avoid defeat with one eye on the second leg.
Forebet predicts that this match will produce under 2.5 goals and end in a draw.