January 20, (THEWILL) – Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone emphasised his team’s ambition to win their first UEFA Champions League trophy ahead of Tuesday’s crucial match against Bayer Leverkusen. The Spanish side, who have reached three finals without victory, face a formidable opponent in the German champions, who maintain an impressive 11-match winning streak across competitions.
The significance of this encounter intensifies with both teams battling for position in the UCL standings. Leverkusen currently occupy fourth place with 13 points from six matches, while Atletico sit in 11th position, trailing by a single point. Under the competition’s revised format, only the top eight teams automatically progress to the last 16, making every remaining match critical.
Simeone acknowledged the exceptional performance of Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, whose team claimed their inaugural Bundesliga title in 2024 without suffering a single defeat. “Xabi is doing an excellent job, he had great coaches. We will have to take the game in a direction where we think we can do the damage on Tuesday,” Simeone stated during the pre-match conference.
The Spanish side entered this contest following a 1-0 defeat to Leganes in La Liga, which ended their impressive run of 15 consecutive victories. This setback adds pressure to their UCL campaign, where they aim to improve their standing before facing Salzburg in Austria on January 29.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
