Football: Antic primed to atone for past
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Your support makes all the difference.Raddy Antic, the Atletico Madrid coach, will be hoping to banish the memory of one of the most painful episodes in the club's history when his side meet Borussia Dortmund in tonight's Champions' League fixture.
Atletico came close to winning the European Cup final in 1974, the last time they met a German side in the premier competition. But Bayern Munich scored a late equaliser, and Franz Beckenbauer's side went on to win the replay 4-0.
It was a heavy blow for Atletico, who have struggled to escape the shadow of their neighbours, Real, the winners of a record six European Cups.
Antic, himself a former Real coach, guided Atletico to their first domestic league and cup double last season. Few Spaniards would be surprised to see the Serbian take his team all the way to the final after a fine Champions' League debut in Group B. Atletico have the best record of any side in the competition after beating the former champions Steaua Bucharest 4- 0 and winning 4-1 at Poland's Widzew Lodz.
However, Borussia Dortmund have also beaten both Steaua and Widzew and will provide the toughest opposition in the group for Atletico.
Injury deprives Dortmund of their influential sweeper, Matthias Sammer, the midfielder Andreas Moller and defender Rene Schneider, all Germany internationals. But the Brazilian defender Julio Cesar is recovering from a muscle injury and is likely to play.
Dortmund beat Duisburg 2-0 in the Bundesliga last Saturday but they are not performing well in midfield or attack.
"We're not going to Madrid as favourites but we don't want to lose there either," the coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, said. "We have to live with lots of injuries but it gives the replacements a chance to force their way in."
Dortmund may draw strength from the past, having beaten Atletico in the quarter-finals of the European Cup-Winners' Cup on their way to winning the trophy in the 1965/66 season.
Atletico's fine European form has contrasted with some poor performances at home. The Madrid club are already six points adrift of the leaders, Barcelona, after seven league games, largely thanks to the absence of the injured Jose Luis Caminero, who misses the Borussia match with a muscle strain.
To make matters worse even Antic himself is injured. The Serbian pulled up in training on Sunday after aggravating an Achilles tendon injury which had lingered on from his time as a player and he will have to curb his animated touchline sorties.
However, Antic will be cheered by the reappearance of the striker Kiko Narvaez, who sat out Saturday's 2-2 draw with Real Betis. "It's an important game, which could open the way to the quarter-finals," Kiko said.
The match should fill Atletico's Vicente Calderon stadium for the first time this season. The capacity has been reduced by 6,000 to just under 50,000, because of engineering works.
Atletico Madrid (probable v Borussia Dortmund, European Cup Champions' League, Madrid, tonight) Molina; Denia, Solozabal, Munoz, Geli; Solozabal, Bejbl, Simeone, Pantic; Narvaez, Esnaider.
Borussia Dortmund (probable) Klos; Feiersinger, Kohler, Julio Cesar, Reuter; Lambert, Zorc, Tretschok, Heinrich; Ricken, Chapuisat.
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