Atletico Madrid vs Porto

December 10, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Even if they have long ago secured the first place in Group G, Atletico Madrid will be looking to play it fair and try to continue the amazing winning run at Vicente Calderon. Meanwhile, FC Porto not only need to win in Madrid, but also for Zenit not to beat Austria Wien in order to make it to the knockout stages.

Nine-match winning run at home

Despite being on a constant uptrend ever since Diego Simeone took over the reigns at Vicente Calderon, Atletico Madrid were not exactly expected to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid for the La Liga trophy. However, los Colchoneros did brilliantly to climb to second place in the league standings and are currently level on points with leaders Barcelona and three points ahead of their local rivals. Meanwhile, the team are also impressing in Europe, where they secured the first place in their group with four straight victories before their second string side held Zenit to a 1-1 draw in St Petersburg. Diego Simeone is once again set to rest some of his key men, but no doubts his side will have enough motivation to try and win this game. Some changes at the back are likely to make things easier for Porto attackers, but with Diego Costa expected to start up front, everything suggests team’s impressive scoring run is likely to continue. And having won last nine matches at their Vicente Calderon, Atletico look a good bet to see off under-pressure Porto as well.

Thibaut Courtois, Mario Suarez and Cristian Rodriguez continue to miss out, whereas Joshua Guilavogui faces a fitness test.

Tough task for Porto

In spite of some serious changes to the playing squad during the summer, which was certainly nothing new for the club, FC Porto enjoyed a bright start to the season, but they have been pretty inconsistent since the opening exchanges. The Dragons slipped to second in Primeira Liga following some unexpected slip-ups, whereas they never really managed to get going in Europe. Home defeats to Atletico Madrid and Zenit created all sorts of problems for Paulo Fonseca’s side, but it was the 1-1 draw against Austria Wien that virtually ended their qualifying hopes. Meanwhile, the Dragons did well to pick up four points from two away fixtures, and they will fancy their chances of extending the run against second-string Atletico. The weekend’s 2-0 triumph over Sporting Braga helped the players restore some of the lost confidence and with the team having nothing to lose, they can be expected to attack their more illustrious opponents, which should in turn guarantee us a very open game at Vicente Calderon.

Captain Lucho Gonzalez is a major doubt through injury, but important midfielder Fernando returns from domestic suspension.

Verdict

Even if this match is much more important for FC Porto, Atletico Madrid have got to be considered favourites, mostly because Diego Simeone plans to field a pretty decent side on Wednesday evening. Porto have no choice but to adopt attacking approach, meaning we should also see quite a few goals in the process.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   2.05 (21/20) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Home win   2.20 (6/5) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Diego Costa to score   2.40 (7/5) @ 888sport

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