Nunca Caminarás Solo

By: Al | October 21st, 2008

Tomorrow, Atlético and Liverpool play one of the most anticipated matches of the season. The bad league form and stadium controversies all cancel out with the sweet sound of the Champions League theme.

Liverpool is a club that is well-respected by the Atlético fanbase, obviously because of Fernando Torres. Liverpool gives us a good reason to watch the English Premier League. The Vicente Calderon often has “You’ll Never Walk Alone” plastered on banners and many of the supporters wear Liverpool kits with Torres’ name on them (I know I’ve got one). Excluding those nasty Ultras that always like to cause trouble and give our club a bad name, we’ll welcome Liverpool with open arms (the match is still considered “high risk” though).

Silly UEFA postponed their decision to punish us and change the location of the game to another part of Spain. This was the talk of the week, as people kept on arguing over whose fault it was over the crowd trouble during the Marseille match. The punishment will be postponed, but we’re grateful that everything will go according to plan.

This match will be very special for players from both teams. Fernando Torres was going to be the star of the match but didn’t make it because of injury. From Atlético Madrid, Luis Garcia and Florent Sinama-Pongolle were once players at Liverpool and have joined our club recently. Liverpool’s Pepe Reina has a soft spot for Atlético, because his father was a goalkeeper at our club. Liverpool gaffer Rafa Benitez will also enjoy his return to his home city of Madrid (hopefully not with a victory).

Atlético:

Atlético is under much pressure after losing the last three La Liga matches, the most recent loss against Real Madrid, a thought that still makes me put on a serious face and stare at the wall for a minute. We’re in 8th place with 9 points, which is very embarrassing considering that we’re behind minnows such as Almeria and Malaga.

In the Champions League, we lead the group after a 0-3 win at PSV and a 2-1 win over Marseille. Our chances of progressing to the Round of 16 look very positive, God forbid that Marseille or PSV win the next two matches. If we defeat Liverpool, I don’t think it’s cocky to say that we’ll be grasping that spot in the Round of 16.

Javier Aguirre

The man under the most pressure is our manager Javier Aguirre. The rumors about his replacement are already circulating, with the stand-out name being Quique Flores, current Benfica manager and ex-Valencia failure. In a press conference, Aguirre was calm and said that the sacking rumors are common and that he doesn’t feel pressure. He also made note that he may rest Aguero from the starting lineup, in which all I have to say is “ehh…”. Resting Aguero as a super-sub may be a good idea considering that he’s probably tired from playing in South America a week ago and then playing the derby on Saturday. But it’s still Kun, he can be the true difference in the match. So we’ll see what Aguirre decides to do.

Liverpool:

Liverpool are currently in 2nd place in the Premier League standings, tied with Chelsea at 20 points. Their season so far has been nothing short of amazing, with the highlight so far being the incredible 2-1 victory over Manchester United. Not only are they beginning to rediscover their league form, but they are the same Liverpool that gets morning wood dreaming about making at least the semifinals of the Champions League year after year, and succeeding. They defeated Marseille 1-2 in France, thanks to a brace by Stevie G, and defeated PSV 3-1 at home. Liverpool aren’t taking crap, they don’t want a close-call entry to the round of 16 like they did last season.

Liverpool are without the tough and bald Slovakian Martin Skrtel and of course, Fernando Torres. However, those players consist of a small fraction of Liverpool’s talent. The player to watch out for is obviously Captain Fantastic Steven Gerrard, who is probably the best midfielder in the world and is currently tied with, you guessed it, Kun Aguero as the current top scorer of the Champions League. The Liverpool attack is helped greatly by Dirk Kuyt, who sometimes forgets that he’s a striker and helps out the defense and midfield on many occasions. Ryan Babel might play in the match as a sub, and will probably score, so hopefully we’re winning by a comfortable margin by then.

Prediction:

4-2 to Atlético. We have LOTS to prove and we will. We are the butt of the jokes in Europe as we are taking crap over the stadium situation and because we’re doing bad in the league. This is THE match to prove ourselves, that we deserve to be here in the Champions League and that we ARE indeed a real team. The critics will eat their words, and we’ll almost secure a spot in the next round in the process.

Rosters:

Atlético: List will be released tomorrow.

Injured: Ujfalusi and Coupet

Liverpool: Keepers: Cavalieri, Reina.
Defenders: Dossena, Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Arbeloa, Carragher, Darby.
Midfielders: Gerrard, Riera, Xabi Alonso, Benayoun, Pennant, Mascherano, Lucas Leiva.
Strikers: Keane, Babel, Kuyt, Ngog.

Enjoy the match on ESPN2 (also in HD for you privileged folk) at usual Champions League time. Sit back, grab a cold one, and watch this match (no other match!)