[Mario]

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
11/4/2014

Malmo vs Atletico Madrid

Home - Malmo
Last away matches - L-L-W-W-L-D

Malmo sit on the bottom of group A. Age Hareide’s men lost both away games in Champions League so far (0:2 Juventus, 0:5 Atletico Madrid), but they rather unexpectedly managed to beat at home Olympiakos (2:0). However, it should be noted that referees’ made mistakes in their favour in this game. Before this season, both clubs have met just once in history, long time ago. During 1966/67 campaign Atletico Madrid defeated Malmo 5:1 on aggregate (2:0 away, 3:1 home), in European Champions’ Club Cup. Generally, Malmo are doing well at home. In the league, Swedish side managed to score at least one goal in all of their 15 games played so far this year. In European cups Malmo performs well at their ground as well. It’s worth to know that Swedish champions didn’t lose any of their last 8 games in Europe. Moreover, they kept a clean sheet in all those matches. During this campaign Malmo managed to make a few surprises in the qualifiers as they progressed to the next rounds at the expense of Sparta Prague (2:0 home win) and FC Salzburg (3:0 home win). However, coach Hareide have bad experience with Spanish clubs, as he lost twice to Levante in the 2012/13 Europa League group stage when he was in charge of Helsingborg. During 2003/04 campaign, as Rosenborg’s coach, he was eliminated in the third qualifying round of Champions League by Deportivo La Coruna. Hareide remains optimistic despite heavy loss two weeks ago: “In Madrid we left their players too much space. Now we need to be closer and more aggressive. We’re much better prepared now,” he said. Good news is that goalkeeper Robin Olsen should be available. It’s not know whether Malmo will use their nominal 4-4-2 formation, because in the past they played with 3-5-2 when they were facing difficult opponents.

Away - Atletico Madrid
Last away matches - W-L-W-L-W-D

Atletico Madrid defeated on Saturday Cordoba (4:2) at home. Despite conceding two goals, coach Diego Simeone was happy with his team’s performance and he claims that they are getting better. Most important thing was that Antoine Griezmann scored a double, those were his first league goals in Atletico’s jersey. “He was brilliant. He played on a level we expect him to,” said Simeone about his French star. Game against Malmo is important for Atletico, as the situation in group A is not clear. Although Spanish champions lost on matchday 1 to Olympiakos in Greece, it’s worth to remember that they didn’t lose a single match on the road during last season in the Champions League.

Asian Handicap
Home - (+1.75)
Away - (-1.75)
Pick - Atletico Madrid (-1.75)
Odds - 2.38
Stakes - 10/10