Atletico Madrid vs. PSV Eindhoven: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain—speak to most onlookers of the UEFA Champions League and those will be the three big favourites to lift the title this season. Certainly it was in a quick canvas of the Bleacher Report offices.
But what of Atletico Madrid?
The best defence in Europe, yet only fifth-favourite with most bookies (per Oddschecker) and still playing the "smaller brother" in conversations or comparisons with Real Madrid—despite clearly being the better and more complete side, having beaten them at the Santiago Bernabeu only a few weeks ago and sitting above them in La Liga's table.
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That is, of course, the way Diego Simeone and his team like it; they're free to go about their business, hunting down and chipping away at the teams around them while the headlines focus on big margins of victory elsewhere—then, suddenly and unexpectedly, they're in the last four and people are wondering how they did it.
An interview with Simeone, published in La Nacion (h/t Marca), reveals his motivations and expectations.
"My aim is to promote one concept: winning. I'm not interested in merely pleasing myself or others. What's the one characteristic a player needs more than anything else? Passion. The spirit of an amateur. It's not just about playing well, it's about really feeling it.
No individual is more important than the team. Not even in the case of [Lionel] Messi, because even though he's the best, he improved even more when [Luis] Suarez and Neymar reached the level of performance they have now. This strengthens our belief that even the best players in the world need other players around them.
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Winning is all that matters in the Champions League, especially in the second leg.
PSV should prepare themselves to feel the full force of an in-form Atletico side, but perhaps the rest of the competition should also acknowledge a very real threat who could go on to lift the title.
Date: Tuesday, March 15
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/3:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Vicente Calderon, Madrid
TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK), Fox Sports 2, ESPN Deportes TV (USA)
Live Stream: BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (USA)
The Teams
Atletico Madrid have hit arguably their best run of form of the season, scoring three goals in each of their last three matches to record impressive victories and keep the pressure up on Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
The defence remains as solid and stingy as ever, but better movement, pace and a clinical edge has helped considerably in moving Atleti from a tough-to-beat side to one who actively hunt down the victory each time they take to the field.
Since the first leg 0-0 draw, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna have been downed in turn, with Atleti conceding just one goal along the way.
Most recently, a 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna was as impressive as it was deserved, with Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann and Angel Correa finding the back of the net.
PSV have played a game less and suffered a disappointing 1-1 draw last time out—though their lead at the top of the Eredivisie wasn't affected, as Ajax went and drew their own fixture the next day. Prior to the draw with Heerenveen, PSV had vanquished Groningen and ADO den Haag in league play, keeping a clean sheet on both occasions.
They'll have no particular reason to fear their own form costing them a place in the quarter-finals, but scoring against Atletico, let alone beating them, is easier said than done.
Team News
Atletico remain without long-term midfield absentee Tiago Mendes, though he is now in the latter stages of recovery from his broken leg.
Central defender Stefan Savic was injured in the first leg against PSV and hasn't featured since, so he can be expected to miss out this time, too. In his absence, Lucas Hernandez has played well when given the chance. Fernando Torres has returned from injury and is available after missing the weekend game.
Only Savic was booked for Atleti in the first leg, meaning they have no suspensions to worry about.
The same can't be said for PSV, though, as forward Gaston Pereiro was shown two yellows and a subsequent red against Atleti in the first leg two weeks ago. He'll be absent this time as a result—but Luuk de Jong's omission from the initial match for the same reason has come to an end, so is likely to start.
Simon Poulsen remains sidelined by injury, but Jetro Willems has re-established himself at left-back over the last few weeks and looks likely to start the second leg.
A settled midfield of Marco van Ginkel, Andres Guardado and Davy Propper gives balance, athleticism and skill to the PSV midfield, which will be a key area of the park on the night with each side's work rate and closing down an obvious tactical point to watch out for.
Possible Lineups
Atleti (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Juanfran, Jose Gimenez, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis; Koke, Saul, Gabi, Yannick Carrasco; Antoine Griezmann, Luciano Vietto.
PSV (4-3-3): Jeroen Zoet; Santiago Arias, Jeffrey Bruma, Hector Moreno, Jetro Willems; Marco van Ginkel, Davy Propper, Andres Guardado; Luciano Narsingh, Jurgen Locadia, Luuk de Jong.
Player to Watch: Antoine Griezmann, ATM
Griezmann is a player in form with four goals in as many games and is the focal point of the home team's attack. He is one of just three or four players who could be relied upon to settle this tie over the two legs.
The French forward has shown his capacity to score a wide range of goals over the last few weeks: individual strikes, set pieces, instinctive efforts and from both inside and outside the penalty box.
PSV will find it hard to tie him down to one area of the pitch as Griezmann thrives on movement, not just running behind the defence, but occupying wide areas, dropping to link play or running directly at the defence in possession.
His ability to change positions in-game means Atleti switch seamlessly from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 off the ball at times, and if he is paired in attack with Yannick Carrasco at any point, the sheer pace and intent to dribble and shoot that PSV will be faced with will make it extremely difficult to keep Atleti out.
When he's in form, Griezmann is one of La Liga's top attacking talents, and that's what he is right now.
Prediction: Atletico Madrid 2-0 PSV (Atleti win 2-0 on aggregate)
