Atletico star claims different ‘mentality’ for Liverpool clash at Anfield

Atletico Madrid star Koke admits his side must have “another mentality” at Anfield in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

The La Liga side won 1-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg, crucially preventing Liverpool scoring an away goal.

But Diego Simeone’s side have endured a difficult domestic season, currently sitting in fifth, 12 points behind league leaders Real Madrid.

And though they produced an excellent performance in the first leg against Liverpool, they will be wary of what happened against Juventus in last season’s competition.

 

 

Having won 2-0 at home, Simeone’s team then lost 3-0 in Turin, thanks to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Speaking to Marca (via Sport Witness), Koke has made it clear that the team’s plan must be to make sure similar doesn’t happen again, and they cannot afford to simply defend their slender lead.

He said: “They will pressure us a lot, I have seen few teams so direct and intense. We have to try to win. If we only think about defending, it can happen to us as against Juve. We have to learn, so it doesn’t happen again.

“They came out with an attitude and mentality so we couldn’t play the game we wanted. We have to go to win with another mentality.”

 

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