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Tension assured as Atletico and Barca aim for Champions League semis

Xinhua, April 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Wednesday night sees what promises to be the tensest 90 minutes of football this season as Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona battle it out for a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Barca will defend a 2-1 lead in the Vicente Calderon Stadium but Atletico know that the goal scored by Fernando Torres in the Camp Nou a week ago means they only need to score once in order to qualify.

The atmosphere will be at fever pitch with Atletico feeling they were hard done to by the referee in the first leg and although they can have few complaints about the two yellow cards shown to the striker, who is suspended on Wednesday, Barca' s Luis Suarez was lucky not to be sent off for two off the ball incidents which went unpunished.

That is going to pile the pressure on the referee Nicola Rizzoli as every challenge is going to be questioned from the stands, further complicating matters against an Atletico side which plays every game at the limit.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone made few alterations to his side at the weekend and was rewarded with a 3-1 win away to Espanyol which saw Atletico close to within three points of Barca at the top of the BBVA Primera Liga title.

Meanwhile Barca' s Luis Enrique made a series of squad rotations as his men produced another flat display to lose in San Sebastian. Barca will bring Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets into their starting 11 knowing a goal will help even the tie out.

They will have to deal with Atletico' s incessant pressure in central midfield as the home side will repeat their tactic of trying to rob the ball high up the park before launching Antoine Griezmann on the break.

With Torres suspended, Simeone will have to decide on a replacement and he will have to decide on whether to field an extra midfielder and allow more freedom to Saul, or to start with the pacey Angel Correa.

It promises to be 90 minutes of drama and probably controversy in which one of the top two sides in Spain comes out triumphant while the other is left with just the league to aim for. Endit