The 2015/2016 UEFA Champions League round of 16 games are finally here, and today we have Atletico Madrid traveling to take on PSV Eindhoven in another one of the biggest matches of the tournament.
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Atletico won 13 points out of 18 in the Champions League group stage and will hope to repeat the 3-0 win they recorded in Eindhoven in the 2008-09 Champions League when the two clubs were in the same first round section.
“We fought hard, we were very disciplined and I’m very happy with the result and the work of all my players”.
And it was Diego Simeone’s side who really should have taken a fourth-minute lead after Gabi’s long ball over the top found Luciano Vietto with a clear sight of goal.
Atleti sent on Fernando Torres and Angel Correa in a bid to find a victor, but PSV held firm and also created a late chance when Maxime Lestienne volleyed over.
Meanwhile, PSV also had a chance to open their account when midfielder Davy Propper shot straight towards Atletico’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak from close range.
The second-half followed the pattern of the first and the first opening came after 57 minutes, and the hosts nearly went ahead in extraordinary fashion.
The Dutch champions are in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time in nine years after they finished above Manchester United and CSKA Moscow in Group B.
“PSV is a good team and they now have the advantage that an away goal counts double, but we will have the Vicente Calderon stadium crowd behind us, ” Simeone said.
They played against Villarreal in their last match in the league and was able to get a draw out of it even though they dominated the match but wasn’t able to score.
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On the other hand, Atletico Madrid come into this game off the back of three games unbeaten, having defeated Eibar and Getafe before drawing 0-0 with Villarreal on Sunday evening.
