Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid clash this Wednesday at the Vicente Calderon Stadium for the return leg of the Champions League semi-finals, which last week saw Real Madrid jump ahead in the series with a 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The rojiblancos, finalists in two of the last three editions of the Champions League, are facing the enormous task of engineering a comeback for the ages to have the chance of playing for the championship once again.
Diego Simeone‘s men, however, will not surrender to the European champions and will put up a fight supported by their fans, who will fill the stands to bid farewell to the Vicente Calderon as host of European competitions, as the Stadium will be demolished once the 2016-17 Liga Santander season ends.
It will be an intense match in which Atletico Madrid will try to break the Real Madrid curse that follows the club in European clashes since losing two Champions League finals against the “blancos”.
After this week’s domestic league match, in which Atletico Madrid won against Eibar, the “rojiblancos” will look to score three goals and hope that Zinedine Zidane’s men do not score at the Calderon to at least force extra time.
That won’t be easy considering that Real Madrid has scored in each of its last 60 games and has striker Cristiano Ronaldo in an impressive scoring streak making the “merengues” the overwhelming favorite to reach the June 3 final in Cardiff.
Real Madrid, challenging history as it aims to be the first club that wins back-to-back titles. faces this match on high spirits not only because of the good result at the Vicente Calderon a week ago, but because of their 0-4 win in their visit to Granada in their latest La Liga match.
Real Madrid will be without striker who is sidelined once again with yet another injury. The Welshman has had a disappointing season due to an injury-plagued 2016-17campaign.