Madrid (AFP) – An old vendetta reeks of confronting Atletico Madrid and its guest, Manchester United, on Wednesday, at the end of the first leg of the European Champions League football final.
The two teams met once in the continental competitions, and the 1991-1992 season was in the second round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, which was merged with the European Union Cup to become the European League “Europa League” now.
At the time, Atlético Madrid won at home with three clean goals, in the first leg, the Red Devils, led by their legendary coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, were unable to compensate for it, as they were satisfied with a positive 1-1 draw.
But the Spanish team is not at its best this season following its impressive achievement last season when it won the league title for the second time in 25 years at the expense of the traditional rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona, as in 2014.
Atletico Madrid has suffered seven defeats in the League so far this season, including four once morest modest teams (Alaves, Granada, Levante and Mallorca), and unprecedented fragility appeared in its defense line, which was one of its strengths. Doubt. However, the club showed a strong reaction following each setback, such as beating its host AC Milan in the group stage at San Siro, and then its Portuguese host Porto 3-1, which led it to the final price, and overturned its 0-2 defeat once morest Valencia to win 3- 2. Atlético Madrid hopes to restore its prestige once morest Manchester United, relying on its impressive record at home in the playoffs in the continental competition, as it has not lost a match since 1997 by achieving nine victories and five draws.
But if anyone can put an end to this series, it is the Portuguese international Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 25 goals, most notably in the final matches of 2014 (the fourth goal following 4-1) and 2016 (the last penalty shootout 5-3) in the colors of Real Madrid. .
Ronaldo crushed Atletico Madrid 22 times in the colors of the royal club and three times in the colors of Juventus, in the 2018-2019 season, when he turned the old lady’s 0-2 loss, back in Madrid, into a hat-trick back in Turin.
Former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea will be Manchester United’s second weapon to return with a positive result from the “Wanda Metropolitano” stadium in the capital, Madrid. De Gea shines remarkably this season with United and has been the reason several times to keep a clean sheet and save the Red Devils from several defeats, as well as contributing to several victories. United and its German coach, Ralf Rangnick, is full of stars, as well as Ronaldo and De Gea, most notably Portuguese Bruno Fernandes, French Paul Pogba and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani. On the eve of the match, Atlético Madrid suffered a severe blow, with its captain and midfielder Koke suffering a muscle injury that would prevent him from playing the match. Atlético issued a statement on Tuesday, saying, “After our captain finished the last match once morest Osasuna and was suffering from aches, he underwent medical tests that showed a rupture of the thigh muscles,” without revealing the duration of his absence.
In the second match, at the end of the final price, Benfica and its guest Ajax Amsterdam hope to continue their adventure in the tournament, especially since the draw has mercy on them from facing the adults, when they meet at the “Al-Nour” stadium in Lisbon. Benfica hopes to avoid the scenario of its traditional rival Sporting, who suffered a humiliating loss once morest its guest, Manchester City, 0-5 last Tuesday, in the first leg of the same round. The Portuguese league champion is suffering two things this season, as it is in third place, 12 points behind its other rivals, the leaders Porto, as it enters the match following a disappointing draw once morest its lowly host Boavista 2-2. On the other hand, Ajax leads the league by five points once morest its rivals Eindhoven, and has achieved the full mark in its last seven matches.
The smell of revenge also emanates from the confrontation, especially for the Portuguese team.
The two teams met for the first time in the competition in the quarter-finals in 1969 and exchanged victory 3-1 back and forth, and the decision was made in a third match that ended in favor of the Dutch team with three clean points following an extension, including a double by Inge Danielson (104 and 109) and the late Johan Cruyff (92).
At that time, Ajax reached the final, losing to AC Milan 1-4.
The date was renewed, including in the semi-finals of the 1971-1972 season, and Ajax won 1 – zero in the first leg and a 0-0 draw back on its way to the second title in a row in its history when it beat Inter Milan 2-0 in the final.
The two teams met for the third time in the 2018-2019 season, and it was in the group stage. Once once more, Ajax won 1-0 in the first leg and drew 1-1 in the back, on its way led by Matthijs de Ligt and Francke de Jong to the semi-finals, which he was bid farewell to by Tottenham Hotspur. Ajax, whose management was recently shaken by the resignation of its sporting director Marc Overmass following sending a “chain of inappropriate messages” to some of his colleagues, is counting on the top scorer of the competition so far this season, his Ivory Coast international striker Sebastian Haller. Haller scored 10 goals in six matches in the competition, including four in his first match in the prestigious continental competition ( once morest Sporting 5-0 in the group stage), in an achievement that was preceded by Dutchman Marco van Basten in his team Milan’s match once morest Gothenburg of Sweden in November 1992.
Ajax, crowned with the long-eared cup four times, has other offensive weapons in the person of Serbian Dusan Tadic, Brazilian Anthony, Davy Clasen and Steven Berkwes.
But Benfica, who won the title twice, will not be up for grabs following they did well in the group stage and booked their card at the expense of the ancient Spanish club Barcelona. Benfica, who sacked coach Jorge Jesus at the end of last December and appointed his compatriot Nelson Verissimo in his place, are hoping for Uruguayan international striker Darwin Nunes, who scored 23 goals this season, including a double once morest Barcelona (3-0) last September.
