The Metropolitano is synonymous with success for Atlético this season. Under the protection of their fans, the Colchonero team has emerged victorious in their six home games this season, including the so far only Champions League match on red-and-white territory against Feyenoord (3-2). In the League there are now 14 consecutive wins in their stadium, a record in the Simeone era, and the challenge is to also transfer that virtue to Europe, where last season they earned four home points that ended up being decisive.
Aware of this territorial strength, Simeone appeals again to the unity between team and fans, a classic of his cholista philosophy, to react after the second defeat of the season, in Las Palmas, and ensure a simpler path for Celtic’s visit towards the desired round of 16 of the Champions League.
“We have had four days, we have an extraordinary game ahead of us, with many people in our stadium, with the team’s enthusiasm to play a great game, to correct what happened in the Celtic game more than in the Las Palmas game,” he revealed. Simeone in the preview of the duel against the Scottish champion, a special rival as demonstrated by the first leg at Celtic Park, warmed by the memory of what happened in the 1974 European Cup semi-final and that authentic battle of the first leg in Glasgow .
The historical weight of the controversial precedent was felt in the atmosphere of the game in Scotland and also in the push of an opponent who is completely descending away from their domains. After two away draws, the one in Glasgow and the one on the opening day against Lazio in Rome, there is a feeling in Atlético that victory at the Metropolitano against Celtic is the key that can open the knockout phase. Three points would clarify the situation in the group and provide the necessary peace of mind to a team over which the ghost of last season’s disappointing KO at the first change still hangs over.
«I see the group as very even. The results prove it. Celtic deserved more in the match with Feyenoord and Lazio. There we see the numbers that, surely, from here until the end we will end up getting points from each other and the one who has the greatest consistency will reach the goal,” analyzed Cholo about the development of the group, much kinder if Atlético manages to come out of the duel with eight points under his belt and Celtic practically ruled out.
Griezmann’s tactical change
To definitively straighten out the landscape in the Champions League and make good the point suffered in Scotland, Simeone continues to suffer the losses of Memphis and Lemar, both due to injury. Added to these absences is that of Rodrigo de Paul due to Glasgow’s double yellow, so the Argentine coach is seriously considering the option of delaying the role of the wild card Griezmann to the interior position, along with Marcos Llorente and Koke as a positional midfielder. In attack, this tactical move would imply the entry into the eleven of Correa, accompanying the energetic Morata up front.
Celtic, who lost 2-0 at the much-missed Vicente Calderón in the 1973-74 European Cup and the 2011-12 Europa League, and tied 1-1 in the 1985-86 European Cup Winners’ Cup, arrives in the Spanish capital without Abada, Welsh, Nawrock and Hatate, the latter injured in the first leg. With a more conservative approach, the danger of Brendan Rodgers’ team will once again be concentrated in the physical waste of Maeda and the scoring ability of Luis Palma and Furuhashi, the authors of the Scots’ goals in the green and white fiefdom.
-Probable alignments:
Atlético: Oblak, Molina, Savic, Witsel, Hermoso, Riquelme, Llorente, Koke, Griezmann, Correa and Morata.
Celtic: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, O’Riley, McGregor, Turnbull, Maeda, Furuhashi y Palma.
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia).
Metropolitan Stadium.
Time and TV: 9:00 p.m. Movistar Champions League.
2023-11-06 19:21:39
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