With two losses in their last three matches – unheard of for this side – Barcelona will look to find their form in front of goal when they play Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon in the Champions League quarterfinal second leg. Barca lead the tie after winning the first leg at the Camp Nou 2-1.
That win in the first leg was a little fortuitous, because on another day, it could have easily ended up as a 1-0, if not better, result for Atletico Madrid. A red card in the first half to Fernando Torres changed the match completely, with Luis Suarez, who turned out to be the matchwinner, scoring both goals, a little lucky to stay on the pitch.
Atletico Madrid left the first leg with a feeling of injustice, but they will need to put that out of their minds and just concentrate on the job at hand Wednesday. A 2-1 deficit is not such a bad thing for Atletico, considering a 1-0 win in front of their home fans will put them through to the semifinals of the Champions League.
"Being Atletico means being tenacious, competitive, never giving up and overcoming difficulties," Diego Simeone, their tenacious manager, was quoted as saying by UEFA's official website. "We know there are better teams than us. But we know we can compete against Barcelona.
"We try to improve what we are doing game after game. We will try to find an angle and see if we can get at them and win. The excitement and enthusiasm around this match is fantastic, but I don't think the Barcelona players will be surprised by the atmosphere because they are used to it."
What Barca are not used to, however, is losing games. The La Liga and European champions have gone down in two of their last two matches in the Spanish League, which has in turn brought Atletico and Real Madrid back into title contention. With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar just misfiring a touch, and Atletico one of the best teams in Europe in terms of defending, this could turn out to be a frustrating night for Barcelona.
"We are treating this like any quarterfinal and I don't feel it's the biggest match of our season," Barcelona manager Luis Enrique told reporters. "We have a small advantage and we will try to win here too to make sure of the result.
"Yes, it's always difficult against Atletico, but it's all about doing things well, which is what we try to do every match. We'll need to play really well, but this team was made for matches like this."
Where to Watch Live
The Champions League second leg quarterfinal -- Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona -- is scheduled for an 8.45 pm CET (7.45 pm GMT, 2.45 pm ET, 12.15 am IST) start. Ten 2 and Ten 1 HD will broadcast the Champions League match live in India on TV. Viewers in India and the Indian subcontinent can also watch the match live online by live streaming on Tensports Live.
Audience in Spain, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, France, Canada, the Middle East and North Africa can watch the game live on TV on Bein Sports, with the live stream option on Bein Sports Connect.
BT Sport Europe will show the match live in the UK and Ireland, with the online live streaming option on Watch BT Sport. Viewers in China can watch the UEFA Champions League action live on PPTV Sports and LeTV.
Fox Sports 1 will show the UCL game live in the US, while the quarterfinal second leg can also be live streamed online on FoxSoccer2Go. Audience in Canada will be able to watch Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona live on TSN and RDS, with the live stream option on TSN TV.