Atletico v Bayern preview

Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will meet for the first time in over 40 years when they step out for their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.

They have only played twice in the past, in the 1974 European Cup final – eventually won by Bayern Munich in a replay in Brussels.

This season, both sides are flying high in their respective domestic leagues and are in with a chance of winning multiple trophies, at home and abroad.

Atletico Madrid came from behind to take advantage of Barcelona’s poor run of form in their quarter-final, a second-leg 2-0 victory booking their place in the final four.

Bayern, meanwhile, survived a spirited Benfica performance to come through 3-2 on aggregate in their last-eight tie.

Atletico Madrid will look to in-form striker Fernando Torres to fire them to victory at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday. He has scored five goals in six matches, helping them maintain pace at the top of La Liga.

Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller lead the way for Bayern and have 46 league goals between them, while Arturo Vidal is also in brilliant form having scored four goals in his last six.

Team news

Atletico Madrid will be without influential defender Diego Godin for the first leg, although the club hope he will be back in time for the return fixture in Munich.

The Uruguayan missed Atletico’s previous league game with the hamstring injury, and Diego Simeone is likely to turn to Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic at centre-back.

Thiago is the only other player missing for Atletico, barring any last-minute injuries, while Holger Badstuber and Arjen Robben are out for Bayern …

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