Today they will be hunting another good result and Champions League record of eight consecutive home games without conceding – last goal they conceded at Vicente Calderon was against Milan, courtesy of Kaka, on 11th of March 2014.
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Nicolas Gaitan and Goncalo Guedes struck either side of half-time for the Portuguese side to cancel out an opener from Champions League debutant Angel Correa.
Real dominated the derby for well over a decade, going unbeaten for 25 matches against the Rojiblancos in any competition from 2000 to 2013, but have found things much tougher over the last few years.
Indeed it will, because neighbours Real Madrid will come calling Sunday, with Cristiano Ronaldo in sparkling form after his brace against Malmo Wednesday in a straightforward 2-0 win.
Representing Group C, Madrid and Benfica are grouped with Turkish club Galatasaray and Kazakhstan’s Astana as they battle for a place in the next round.
However, Martinez has scored just once in seven games for Los Rojiblancos and been subbed at half-time in each of his last two starts.
“It’s been key in all matches we have played”, Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral said. The team hasn’t been showing its usual confidence while playing at home recently, and it showed on Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to Benfica in the Champions League. “But we know we still have a long way to go in front of us”.
Finally, Sevilla will hope that their first league win of the season will give them the morale boost as they travel to face Italian Champions, Juventus, who are suffering a poor start to the season.
“All of the opponents deserve respect, but it is a nice and important game and fans really live it to the maximum”.
Atletico’s early-season optimism has been diminished by back-to-back defeats against Villarreal and Benfica in the past week.
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Chilean worldwide custodian Claudio Bravo could return in Seville, while Uruguyan star striker Luis Suarez, who has been the standout performer in the last two games, will be again called on to deliver, especially as iconic midfielder Andres Iniesta has joined Barcelona’s long injury list.
