Preview: Raring to go against Atletico | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt are travelling to the Estadio Metropolitano with a mixture of respect for their opponents and excitement ahead of their next UEFA Champions League outing.

The backdrop

Atlético de Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt are currently fourth in La Liga and the Bundesliga respectively, having each finished the last season in third place. However, reducing this match-up to the teams’ league positions would be overly simplistic.

After all, the Spanish side reached the final of the competition in 2014 and 2016 and got as far as the semi-finals in 2017, only to lose to Real Madrid on each occasion.

Diego Simeone’s side have struggled to consistently hit their straps so far this season. They started out with a 2-1 defeat at Espanyol and have also drawn 1-1 three times since then, results that have been interspersed with home wins over Villarreal (2-0) and Rayo Vallecano (3-2).

However, like Eintracht, who won 6-4 in Mönchengladbach on Saturday, Atleti warmed up for this game with a goal-fest; a 5-2 victory over city rivals Real Madrid.

“It’ll be a learning curve for us over 90, 95 minutes because we’re facing an experienced team with a lot of quality who have been playing in the Champions League for many years, even decades,” said Markus Krösche, who is expecting a tough assignment for the Eagles.

First impressions

“You can see the kind of team we’re going up against,” Krösche continued. “They’ve just shown the kind of football they can play and what they’re capable of, so it’ll be a tough task.

“We’ll see where we really stand in certain situations. That’s a good thing. We’re going there to take the game on and to try and get something from it with a good performance. I can’t wait for it.”

Timmo Hardung struck a similar chord on Sunday as a guest on SPORT1 TV show Doppelpass. “Even before they scored five goals against Real Madrid, we knew that they had a lot of quality up front,” the Eintracht sporting director said. “We want to focus a bit more on ourselves there, and not give away so many chances or concede simple goals. I think it’ll be a very eventful match and that we can take something from it.”

Looking back: Argentinians to the fore

Atlético are capable of scoring more than just tap-ins, as they demonstrated in the Madrid derby when Julián Alvarez found the top corner from a free-kick. The forward has now scored six and also registered an assist across the first seven La Liga matchdays this season, behind only Kylian Mbappé in terms of direct goal contributions.

Alvarez is one of six Argentinians in Simeone’s squad, and the coach himself – who has been at the helm since December 2011 – also hails from the land of the three-time World Cup winners.

Simeone suspended

While Eintracht started this season’s Champions League campaign with a 5-1 victory over Galatasaray, Atlético conceded in stoppage time away to Liverpool at Anfield to lose 3-2. Simeone was sent off in the heat of the moment and is suspended for this match.

Valuable experience

Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller has virtually a full squad to choose from. Of the players registered for the league phase of the competition, Rasmus Kristensen is the only absentee due to a muscular injury, although the Dane could return to action this coming weekend.

Meanwhile, Mario Götze, who has by far the most Champions League experience in the Eintracht squad with 75 appearances, was able to play 40 minutes in Mönchengladbach.