Preview: Atletico Madrid vs. Liverpool

By foxsports
Published

Liverpool has to shrug off the demands of a long, mainly overland journey to Spain and the absence of star striker Fernando Torres when it visits Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Europa League semifinal on Thursday.

Rafa Benitez's players have had to take a series of trains through France before preparing to catch a flight to Madrid, due to air travel disruptions caused by Iceland's volcanic eruption.

Benitez said Wednesday the journey had been "really strange" yet insisted his players will feel sufficiently rested for the game.

But perhaps of more concern for the Liverpool coach is his attack, with Torres sidelined for the rest of the season after knee surgery.

Atletico's players respect Liverpool's European pedigree, although the absence of their former captain Torres from the two games gives them confidence.

"Liverpool is a team with a lot of merits, such as order and balance," said Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores. "They are very competitive and they do everything through collective effort."

Striker Diego Forlan said: "Liverpool without Fernando Torres is a less dangerous team."

Last weekend the Reds did not seem to miss their totemic striker as they beat West Ham 3-0, with strikes from Yossi Benayoun and David N'Gog plus an own-goal from the London team.

Atletico, meanwhile, must put behind it a run of poor domestic form which has seen it lose three league games in a row, most recently a 2-1 defeat to Villarreal.

With the Madrid team's own star forward Sergio Aguero unavailable due to suspension, Jose Manuel Jurado is expected to start in the Calderon Stadium.

"The absence of Aguero is similar to the absence of Torres. For us it's a big absence," said Flores.

However, having come through a challenging tie with fellow Spanish team Valencia in the last eight and reached the Copa del Rey final, Atletico's confidence is high in knock-out competitions.

Liverpool has an impressive record against Spanish opponents. The five-time European champion won both of its UEFA Cup semifinal meetings with Barcelona in 1975-76 and 2000-01. In 2001 it went on to win the trophy.

Atletico, meanwhile, has not won in seven games against English sides since a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup quarterfinals.