Atletico Madrid face Manchester City this week.
Los Rojiblancos travel to England to lock horns with the Premier League champions today ahead of tomorrow night’s game.
And it’s a big one; the quarter-final of the Champions League. Atletico will be keen to put in a strong performance at the Etihad Stadium and earn a good result before the second leg.
And they’re in good form.
After a poor start to the season Diego Simeone’s men have surged to third in La Liga, overtaking Sevilla this weekend. They’re now level on points with Barcelona as well as Sevilla. League leaders Real Madrid are 12 points clear.
City are top of the Premier League, doing a far better job of defending their title than Atletico are. But they’re far from running away with the league; Liverpool are a point behind.
Atletico knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League in the last 16 while City made light work of Sporting Lisbon.
Two Spaniards will play an important role at the Etihad tomorrow; Atletico skipper Koke and City pivot Rodrigo, formerly of Atletico.
“Yes, of course,” Koke replied when asked had he discussed the game with Rodrigo as per Diario AS. “With the national team. He admitted to me that it was going to be a very tough match.
“‘We live many games like this in the Premier League,’ he said to me. So I warned him; ‘But Atletico aren’t in the Premier League.’
“He told me that it was going to be strange for him to play at the Wanda [Metropolitano] as he’s fond of Atletico. I already told him that we’re going to win for sure. He knows what Atletico are like.”
