MUNICH, (Reuters) – Atletico Madrid must rely on their renowned teamwork to get past Bayern Munich in today’s Champions League last four clash as they bid to reach a second final in three seasons, said striker Fernando Torres.
Atletico beat the Germans 1-0 in last week’s first leg to take a narrow advantage with them to Munich today as they look to repeat their 2014 feat of reaching the showpiece match.
Real Madrid, who beat Atletico in that final, face Manchester City in the other semi after a goalless first leg.
“The most important thing is that we know who we are,” Atletico’s Torres told reporters yesterday. “We are nothing if we are not a team. As a team we can beat anyone.”
Atletico have peaked at just the right time, going into the game with a seven-match winning streak in all competitions while keeping six straight clean sheets.
They are also level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona, albeit in second place on their head-to-head record, with two games remaining.
“We are the team that concedes few goals in Europe. We have also been scoring almost in every game from mid-season to now,” the 32-year-old Torres said. “We will play to win. We will give everything to fulfil our dream.”
“We want to keep being a team and this is our mentality. We die for each other and every game is a battle. Bayern are probably the best team we have faced this season.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone will have defender Diego Godin back after he recovered from a hamstring injury but he declined to reveal if the experienced Uruguayan would play.
“We have four strong central defenders available,” said the Argentine coach, who has had great success at the club including winning La Liga and the Europa League, with theChampions League the last major prize missing from his collection.
“The work we have done these past four-and-a-half-years is gradually paying off. We have young players and it is really fantastic to work with them,” said Simeone.
