Roger Schmidt has called for his Bayer Leverkusen players to remain calm in what should be a hostile atmosphere at the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday night.
The Germans go into the second leg of their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid having obtained a 1-0 advantage from the first game, but Schmidt accepts it is going to be difficult to hang on to the lead inside what is notoriously an intimidating arena.
“I’m not worried about this game, I’m excited, because this is a great challenge for us,” he told a Press conference.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for us to grow as a team and reach the quarter-finals, so we’ll need to put in a great effort and that’s also extra motivation.
“We know it will be intimidating and we’ll need to keep a cool head, although I accept Atletico are favourites, but we are feeling confident.
“They are a strong side at home and we’ll have to give 100 per cent because they have a lot of character and battle for everything.
“We are also aware the atmosphere at the Calderon gets quite heated but the only thing that interests me is that we will be going there with a one-goal advantage.
“However, I don’t believe in the negative run that Atleti are supposedly in as not so long ago they beat Real Madrid twice.
“They’ll scratch, bite, kick and provoke but they also know how to play football,” he asserted.
