THEY may trail 3-0 from the first leg, but clearly the supporters of Atletico Madrid have not yet given up hope on beating rivals Real Madrid and reaching the Champions League final.
Hundreds of fans gathered outside the team hotel on Tuesday and lit red smoke flares to create a spectacular welcome, letting their heroes know they are still right behind them.
It came as manager Diego Simeone said his Atletico Madrid players must take it a goal at a time as they look to achieve the near-impossible on Wednesday night.
The Atletico players headed out to the Vicente Calderon pitch to train on Tuesday, 24 hours before they try to overturn a three-goal deficit against rivals Real Madrid.
Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres were among the players who looked in high spirits as they went through a number of drills.
Coach Simeone even channelled his inner Cristiano Ronaldo as he stepped up to take a free-kick in a similar way to that of the Real Madrid superstar.
Before the session, Simeone spoke to the press and insisted that he trusts his players to give everything as they attempt to reach another European final, despite the first-leg 3-0 defeat.
‘We trust in ourselves and we know our strengths and we will not move from that situation to tomorrow’s game,’ he said.
‘We trust what we can do, I trust my players and I do not doubt that they will make a good match.
‘I consider that tomorrow we must defend well to be inside the game and we have options to pass the tie. I’m not worried, we’re clear that the second goal never comes before the first goal.’
With Atletico 10 points behind Real and Barcelona in La Liga, the Champions League represents their last shot at silverware this season, although even that looks unlikely.
SOURCE: DAILYMAIL
