After an enthralling draw against Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday, Atletico Madrid will look to get back to winning ways when they host Valencia in the second leg of the last 16 Copa Del Rey encounter at the Vicente Calderon.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for a 9.30 pm local time (2 am IST Wednesday morning) start with no live coverage in India. The match will be shown live on Bein Sports Espanol in the US and can be live streamed HERE. Sky Sports 1 will provide live coverage in the UK with the live streaming option HERE. Live stream the match in North Africa and the Middle East HERE, while Latin America viewers can catch the action HERE.
Atletico stood toe to toe with the mighty Barca at the weekend, with a 0-0 draw ensuring they remain level on points with the reigning champions.
While that high-octane game would have burned a bit of fuel in the tank of the players, manager Diego Simeone insisted he would pick a strong team for the second leg against Valencia, with only the injured Mario Suarez missing.
"[The] kids are used to playing with three or four days' rest," Simeone said on Monday. "Tomorrow I hope we play a good match. It is football, fatigue exists. We must overcome this with the help of the physios who are working very well to get everyone in the best shape.
"We're in a competition that has given us many joys and we will respect it, as we respect the friendlies in Peru or Argentina. We have this feature, we can play good or bad, win, lose or draw, but the intent is the best of the group."
Valencia, who will be without the suspended Jonas, came back from a goal down to force a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week, with Helder Postiga scoring a stoppage time equaliser.
Los Che were much the better side as the game wore on and Simeone expects Valencia to put their best foot forward right from the off in the second leg, knowing the need of scoring at least a goal.
"They have the need to score," Simeon added. "I imagine a game where they will try to play like they did near the end in Valencia, their last minutes were very good. We will adapt to the game situations we've seen because they have a great squad and it will be a tough game, with a 50 percent chance of going through."
Valencia suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo in La Liga at the weekend, and manager Juan Antonio Pizzi knows his side will have to be at their best to stand any chance of turning over Atletico in their own backyard.
"Intensity is what I like and that's how we were in my first two games," Pizzi said. "The most important thing is to maintain it. As the games go by, we'll make an evaluation. My aspiration is to maintain that over a long period of time, that the team has that as an identity and that Valencia has their own way of playing.
"We need to be playing at our limit as a team and as footballers. We'll be trying to play to our absolute limits, so that Valencia can keep going in the Copa Del Rey."
