Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will play a rematch of last season’s Champions League semifinal when the two football sides meet at the Vicente Calderon Stadium here on Wednesday.
The group game between the two clubs could go a long way to determining not only who qualifies for the knockout stages of the competition, but also who finishes top of their group after both teams won their opening games, reports Xinhua.
Last season saw Atletico triumph against Bayern to book its place in the final, and this season Diego Simeone’s side has turned things around after a slow start to its campaign to move into third place in its domestic league with four straight wins.
Atletico will be without midfielder Augusto Fernandez, who will miss the rest of the season after injuring his cruciate knee ligament during Sunday’s La Liga win at home to Deportivo la Coruna, while Jose Gimenez is also out with a groin injury.
Savic to start Stefan Savic and Gabi are expected to be named in Atletico’s starting team, while Simeone could also make changes in attack with Fernando Torres or Kevin Gameiro accompanying the in-form Antoine Griezmann, who has netted five league goals this season.
Wednesday also sees Spanish champion FC Barcelona in action as it travels to face Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach in what should be an emotive night for goalkeeper Ter Stegen, who returns to his home town to face his former club.
Regulars back Barcelona will be without star striker Lionel Messi, who is still sidelined with a groin injury. Regular players Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta were all rested for the game 5-0 win away to Sporting Gijon in La Liga at the weekend. All will go into the side on Wednesday.
Barcelona kicked off its European campaign with a 7-0 thrashing of Celtic, and a win in Germany would see it halfway to booking its place in the last 16 of the tournament.
