Our two day trip from Liverpool has brought us to the former home of El Nino and Maxi for the first leg of the Europa League Semi-Final.
No Premier League team has been able to beat the Spanish outfit, however if there is one team that could beat Atletico Madrid it is Liverpool. The Reds have featured in ten European Cup Finals (seven Champions, three UEFA) and we now have an opportunity to make it eleven.
Atletico Madrid will miss their top goalscorer Sergio Aguero due to injury however they still have Diego Forlan who I believe is their biggest threat.
For the Reds: Fernando Torres, Martin Kelly, Martin Skrtel, Emiliano Insua and Fabio Aurelio are all injured while Maxi Rodriguez is cup-tied. Rafa will make some changes to the team that beat West Ham on Monday. I strongly believe that he will partner Mascherano and Lucas in the middle of the park while Ryan Babel will replace Ngog. The back four will remain unchanged with Daniel Agger playing in the left-back position and Soto in central defence.
My Predicted Lineup :
Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Babel
Kick off is at 8:05PM UK Time