After the first Champions League semi-final match yesterday, the action in the most prestigious European tournament does not promise to stop, and tonight two more teams eager to reach the final will take the field. At 21:45, Madrid's "Atletico" will host Munich's "Bayern", and the match review is provided by Eurofootball.com. "Atletico" - "Bayern" The path to the semi-final: " Atletico " entered Group C, where they surpassed the clubs "Benfica", "Galatasaray" and "Astana" to take first place. In the round of 16, they faced PSV, but neither in the first match in Eindhoven, nor in the home leg was a goal scored, so the teams settled the matter in a penalty shootout. There, it was "Atletico" who emerged victorious, advancing to the quarter-finals, where they faced another Spanish team - "Barcelona". In Eindhoven, they scored first, but later lost Fernando Torres and succumbed to "Barca" 1-2. However, playing at home, they scored two unanswered goals and progressed to the next stage of the competition. " Bayern " tested their strengths in Group F and finished first only losing once. Behind them were "Arsenal", "Olympiacos" and Zagreb's "Dinamo". In the round of 16, they faced Turin's "Juventus" - in the first leg away, the Bavarians scored two goals, but at the end of the match let their opponents equalize. In the match in Germany, the situation was reversed - initially "Juventus" scored two goals, but in the second half of the match "Bayern" scored two goals and equalized the result. By the way, the goal that led to extra time was scored by Thomas Muller during added time. During extra time, the Bavarians were fresher, scoring two unanswered goals. In the quarter-finals, they faced "Benfica", against whom they won 1-0 at home, and the away match ended in a 2-2 draw. Teams' form: Both teams are still fighting for the national championship titles, and "Bayern" is just one win away from another "Bundesliga" championship title. The Bavarians have won six consecutive matches in Germany, so it is hard to believe that in the remaining three rounds they would not fight for victory and another national championship trophy. The situation for "Atletico" is much more difficult as they are fighting for the "La Liga" title - they not only cannot afford to drop points anymore, but they also have to hope that "Barca" will stumble at least once more. The players of the Madrid team have not been dropping points lately and have won five consecutive matches in the local league. The last two of them were won by minimal results of 1-0, but "Atletico" fans are already used to such victories and this should not surprise them. Teams' absences and returns: " Atletico " suffered serious losses before this match - due to an injury that occurred exactly a week ago, the center-back Diego Godin will not be able to help the team. This player was a starter in all "Atletico" matches in the Champions League, so his absence is likely to affect the team's performance. After being disqualified due to a red card in the first match against "Barcelona", forward Fernando Torres will return and is likely to appear on the pitch from the very beginning. The visitors will be without Arjen Robben, who did not have time to prepare for Wednesday's match. Jerome Boateng has been included in the team's 22-player squad for this match, but it is not yet clear whether the defender will play in tonight's match. What the coaches said before the match: "We are thinking about where we play and what chances we have. We can only think about one thing - victory. For that, we have to work hard and strive for it. I hope for a tough match against opponents who have a lot of attacking potential and a coach who changes tactics in every match. We will try to take control of the game where we can. These will be very important matches that can determine the result of the whole series," said home team coach Diego Simeone. "We are very happy to be here and we know that semi-finals are always tough. The greatest achievement that "Atletico" and Diego Simeone with his team have achieved is that they have become equals with "Barcelona" and "Real" and are also feared in Europe. "Atletico" has a big heart and a very good mentality. They are one of the strongest teams and they are very, very dangerous. I know how special this "Atletico" team is and with what mindset they play," said "Bayern" strategist Pepe Guardiola before the match. Predicted line-ups: "Atletico" (4-4-2): Oblak; Juanfran, Gimenez, Lucas, Filipe Luis; Koke, Gabi, Augusto, Saul; Griezmann, Torres. "Bayern" (4-1-4-1): Neuer; Lahm, Kimmich, Martinez, Alaba; Alonso; Costa, Muller, Vidal, Ribéry; Lewandowski. Key facts before the match: The only previous encounter between these two teams took place in the 1974 UEFA Cup final. The first leg ended 1-1, and the teams had to play a second match, in which the Bavarians were victorious, defeating their opponents 4-0; " Atletico " has won six consecutive knockout rounds against German teams. The last time they were eliminated from European competitions by a German team was in the 1970-1980 season, when Dresden's "Dynamo" did it; The Madrid team has reached the Champions League semi-finals for the fifth time. Meanwhile, "Bayern" has reached it 18 times and is only surpassed by Madrid's "Real", who have reached the semi-finals 27 times; "Bayern", which is the most goal-scoring team of this season's Champions League (28 goals), scored twice as many goals as their opponents today (14 goals) in these matches; The German team made 2392 passes more than "Atletico", the largest difference between the semi-final participants; " Atletico " has won only one of their last six Champions League knockout matches (3 draws, 2 losses); However, under Simeone's leadership, "Atletico" has won 12 out of 16 matches at home (3 draws, 1 loss); " Atletico " has not conceded a goal in 13 of their last 15 Champions League matches at home. The last player to score against Jan Oblak in his home stadium was Goncalo Guedes from "Benfica", and it has been 429 minutes of game time since that moment; Of all the semi-final participants, "Atletico" is the only one that has not yet scored a goal from outside the penalty area in this season's Champions League; "Bayern" has reached the semi-finals for the seventh time in the last seven seasons. However, they have stopped at this stage specifically against their opponents from Spain (in the 2013-2014 season against "Real" and in the 2014-2015 season against "Barcelona"); "Bayern" has not won their last seven away matches in the knockout stages of the Champions League (4 draws, 3 losses).
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
