Atletico believe this is their year to end duck

ATLETICO Madrid will hope that their two coronavirus cases at the weekend are the only hiccup as they make another attempt to win the Champions League from today.

Atletico were seconds away from the title in 1974 against Bayern Munich and 40 years later against crosstown rivals Real Madrid, and then also lost the 2016 decider to Real on penalties.

Diego Simeone’s side arrive in Lisbon for the finals series on the back of a stunning last-16 upset over title holders Liverpool just before the Covid-19 lockdown, and with fine form since the restart in June.

Atletico went unbeaten in their remaining 11 league matches, winning seven of them, as they rose from sixth to finish third in La Liga.

They now hope to carry that momentum into the Champions League where Simeone’s disciplined and gritty side run into the attacking Germans of RB Leipzig today.

The mood remains upbeat despite Angel Correa and Sime Vrsaljko missing because of the positive novel coronavirus tests which also delayed their arrival in Lisbon by a day.

Atletico will be happy that Real are no longer in the tournament and they won’t mind either that Leipzig’s top forward Timo Werner has already left for Chelsea.

“We’ve been to a final, but we couldn’t get it done.

“We’ll try our best this time, but it’s a very hard competition to win,” forward Diego Costa, who featured in the 2014 decider, said last week.

Winger Yannick Carrasco, who was part of the 2016 team, said that after all the heartbreak “Atletico deserves to have a Champions League”.

Costa returned to Atletico from Chelsea in 2017 and forms an attacking duo with Marcos Llorente in a tricky season after the departure of stars including Antoine Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez and Diego Godin.

Young Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann has huge respect for Atletico and Simeone.

“They’re a European heavyweight, especially in recent years. Diego Simeone has done a great job with a lot of success,” Nagelsmann told Marca at the weekend.