Benfica ready for Atleti battle

Benfica Coach Rui Vitoria is expecting a ‘battle’ against Atletico Madrid at Vicente Calderon, describing the hosts as ‘aggressive.’

The sides both won in their first Champions League group games, Atleti seeing off Galatasaray and Benfica picking up the points against Astana, and Vitoria is ready for a competitive encounter.

“[Atletico are aggressive] in the sense they’re hard to beat, they’re intense, very competitive…in that regard it will be a battle,” Vitoria said, AS reports.

“We’re preparing. We recognise the value of Atletico and respect that. Benfica are an important European team too.

“We also know Atletico recognise that Benfica are a quality team and a heavyweight in Europe.

“We come to win, with respect for our opponent, but the goal is to win. The few goals they’ve conceded or however many they’ve scored are in the past.

“There’ll be 3,000 Benfica fans there and that shows the stature of the team, which goes beyond Portugal. If we had more tickets, there’d be more fans.”

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