Atletico Madrid will be as confident as they come of progressing to the knockout stages with a victory over Austria Wien in the Champions League.
The Spanish side have been in brilliant form this season, which has seen them well on their way to contending with the big two - Barcelona and Real Madrid -- for the La Liga title, while the Champions League has been a basic walk in the park, after three wins from three games.
Three points against Austria Wien, and they will join Bayern Munich and Manchester City in qualifying for the last 16 with two matches to spare.
"We are striving to be competitive in every match and to do that we have to take it day by day," Atletico manager Diego Simeone, who has done a brilliant job, said. "Austria are working at a good level and were unfortunate that we were so good in the first 30 minutes [jumping into a 2-0 lead] at their place."
That reverse tie ended 3-0 in Atletico's favour, and the same scoreline, if not bigger is expected at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday. Austria Wien manager Nenad Bjelica is hoping for a bit of luck going his side's way against Atletico, with his team currently rock bottom with just one point from three games.
"We must be focused from minute one and not allow our opponents any room because they have very dangerous forwards," Bjelica, suspended for the encounter, said. "Atletico took advantage of our worst 20 to 25 minutes of the season in the home match.
"If we can go long enough without conceding a goal, we will have more opportunities to do something good. We will have to do our best and be lucky."
Team News: Mario Suarez and Cristian Rodriguez are doubts for Atletico after missing training, while Arda Turan, who has been sidelined with a shoulder problem, trained alone this week. Daniel Aranzubia is ruled out but forward Leo Baptistao is available after recovering from a sprained ankle.
Austria Wien, who are yet to score in the Champions League this season, will be without Alexander Grunwald and Alexander Gorgon, along with Marko Stankovic.
Key men: Atletico Madrid: Diego Costa has been scoring goals for fun this season, and expect a couple more to be added to his tally.
Austria Wien: Roman Kienast notched a couple of goals at the weekend for Wiener Neustadt, and Austria will hope for the dry spell to end courtesy a goal or two from their striker.
Where to watch
The game is scheduled for a 1.15 am IST start on Thursday morning with no live coverage.
Expected lineups: Atletico Madrid: Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Luis; Adrian, Gabi, Tiago, Koke; Villa, Costa.
Austria Wien: Linder; Ortlechner, Ramsebner, Leovac, Koch; Mader, Suttner, Simkovic, Royer; Murg, Kienast.
Prediction: 3-0 to Atletico
