By Daily Sports on February 18, 2020

European Cup holders Liverpool will travel to Atletico Madrid for their first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Tuesday night.

The Reds are closing in on their first league title for 30 years but will be determined to pick up a positive result at the Wanda Metropolitano ahead of the second leg at Anfield on March 11.

Having won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions, it would be fair to say that Atletico will not enter Tuesday’s clash with the European champions in the best of form.

Atletico have been dumped out of the Copa del Rey and lost in the Spanish Super Cup final since the turn of the year, in addition to suffering league defeats to Eibar and Real Madrid.

Diego Simeone’s side have actually only picked up two league successes in 2020 and sit fourth in Spain’s top flight, only two points clear of sixth-placed Villarreal on the same number of matches.

Atletico also lost two of their six matches in the group stages of the Champions League but still managed to finish second in the section behind Juventus to advance to the last-16 stage of the competition.

Tuesday's clash will actually be just the fifth meeting between Atletico and Liverpool in European competition, and the Spanish giants triumphed on away goals following a 2-2 draw when they last locked horns in the semi-finals of the 2010 Europa League.

It will be the first time that these two teams have faced each other in the Champions League since the group stages of the 2008-09 competition, when both matches finished 1-1.

Atletico might be the underdogs heading into this two-legged fixture, but they have won four of their last six ties in the round of 16 and have lost just once in 12 visits from English clubs, winning seven times in the process during an impressive run of form.

Dortmund will also slug it out with PSG in Germany. (Sports Mole)

•PHOTO: Liverpool players

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 18, 2020

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