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Champions League Matchday 2:

Atlético Madrid vs. Olympique de Marseille

The Champions League is back and the “we are good enough to win” headlines by both teams’ players are flooding the news sites. Atlético is ready to host their first CL match in 11 years. Eleven years, meng! Thank goodness La Liga is so competitive, as 2 different teams always end up qualifying aside Real and Barcelona. We’re glad to be back and we’ll prove it again on Wednesday, when we face Marseille.

We have 3 points secured after beating down PSV senseless at Eindhoven last matchday, and if we can win every home match, we are as good as through to the round of 16. If we draw or lose tomorrow, it’s safe to say the “crisis” button will be pounded like a drunkard playing whack-a-mole, considering we play the top 3 La Liga teams of last season and Liverpool as well. We NEED to win to prevent UEFA Cup agony or elimination. The PSV match wasn’t a fluke, and I’m confident that the match was a foreshadow of what’s yet to come from Atletico Madrid.

Now, a little about us and them:

Us:

We are fresh off of losing to Sevilla on Sunday, 0-1 at home. Our midfield played crummy and lacked the spark that Maniche would’ve provided if he hadn’t been injured. However, he could be back for this match alongside Johnny Heitinga. If the midfield works their magic, the match is ours.

Seitaridis, Pablo, Forlán and Simão are out for the match due to injuries.

Sergio Agüero and Florent Sinama-Pongolle will be our key players on Wednesday (aren’t they always?) as they will be our starting strikers. Maxi and possibly either Miguel de las Cuevas or Luis Garcia will be responsible for the attacking midfield roles.

We will play this match with all our might and will leave Sunday’s result past us. The Champions League is a completely different beast and our Liga concerns are unimportant when it comes to these matches.

Them:

Marseille is undefeated in Ligue 1 with 3 wins and 4 draws, and sit in 3rd place. Like Atlético, they aren’t doing shabby but have been disappointing recently.

Marseille are coached by Eric Gerets, a man that brought Marseille from 17th place in autumn to 3rd place overall. He has coached a variety of clubs all around Europe, such as PSV and Galatasaray, so the man has his European competition credentials rightfully earned. Also, he crossed paths with Aguirre in World Cup ‘86 as Mexico defeated Belgium 2-1.

Marseille play in either a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. French international Hatem Ben Arfa is arguably the star of the team. A Lyon benchwarmer last year, this man can pose danger if he isn’t marked well as he’s very fast and can create many chances, but our center backs should do fine handling him. Mamadou Niang was Ligue 1’s second highest scorer last season and is one of the team’s main sources of goals. Mathieu Valbuena is also a dangerous player that scored a cracker last year against Liverpool but is more of a sub.

Marseille was a tad bit unfortunate to lose to Liverpool the last matchday, courtesy of a Stevie G brace. They deserved a result with the solid play they showed but were unfortunate in the end.

The bottom line: the coach knows what he’s doing and he has plenty of attacking power in the squad.

Prediction: 4-0 to Atlético. We have much to make up for after Sunday and we will be on fire. Marseille must be very, very dynamic in order to get a result. But the problem is that we are very, very dynamic. Leaving gaps in the back will result in immediate punishment thanks to el Kun. And it doesn’t seem like the match will end in a draw; one team will completely stomp over the other, and I think I know which team that will be…

Rosters:

Atleti:

Forwards: Mamadou Niang, Bakari Koné, Mamadou Samassa, Elliot Grandin

Probable Atleti starting XI:

Franco РPerea, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernia РAssun̤̣o, Raul Garcia, Maxi, Miguel РSinama, Kun

Aupa Atleti!

Category: Preview, champions league

Tags: champions league, marseille, Preview

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