Atletico hosts Dortmund in a Group A rematch
BERLIN— Less than two weeks after its biggest loss under coach Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid will get a chance to make amends.
The Spanish team will host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in the Champions League, 13 days after the Bundesliga leaders beat Atletico 4-0 in Germany.
Dortmund is unbeaten in 15 competitive games under coach Lucien Favre and can advance from Group A with another win.
Despite the result, Atletico can also advance with a win if Monaco draws with Club Brugge.
A look at the four Champions League groups on Tuesday: GROUP A Atletico is unfamiliar with big losses but can take heart after bouncing back in the past.
The team twice lost to city rival Real Madrid 3-0 in 2016-17, but responded with three wins and a draw on both occasions, while it claimed four consecutive victories after a 3-0 loss at Villarreal.
Atletico has also only lost once (to Chelsea) in 19 European games at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, and the club hasn’t lost at home to a German team in eight games since a 1-0 defeat to Dortmund in 1996-97. Monaco and Club Brugge have only faint hopes of progressing.
Monaco is a far cry from the side that reached the semifinals in 2017. Radamel Falcao returned from injury to come off the bench in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Reims.
GROUP B Barcelona visits Inter Milan with hope that Lionel Messi can return after recovering from a broken arm.
Messi was expected to be out for another week or so, but he recovered well and practised with the rest of the squad in recent days.
Awin at the San Siro will guarantee that Barcelona advances to the next round as Group B winner. Barcelona has nine points after. three matches, three points more than Inter, which can advance with a win if Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven draw in London.
It’s win-or-bust for Tottenham, which has only one point and must defeat PSV to maintain any chance of reaching the knockout stages.
GROUP C Paris Saint-Germain may well need goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at his best against Napoli, considering the form Dries Mertens is in.
The Belgium forward scored a hat trick in Friday’s 5-1 victory over Empoli.
PSG is third with four points in Group C and needs to win, but it can also count on considerable firepower of its own in Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. PSG coach Thomas Tuchel has a decision to make on whether to select Edinson Cavani against his former club.
Group leader Liverpool needs to be more ruthless in front of goal at Red Star Belgrade, according to Juergen Klopp. The Liverpool manager was unhappy with his team’s finishing in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
GROUP D Porto can close in on advancement with a win at home against Lokomotiv Moscow. Injured forwards Jefferson Farfan and Fyodor Smolov are back in the Russian squad.
Porto has five straight wins. Schalke, two points behind Porto, hosts Galatasaray in the other group game.