Even though Atletico Madrid ultimately lost and had to be eliminated from the UCL, to be honest, I now respect them. because they have played very well and maybe if their opponent in the round of 16 is not Real Madrid then it is possible that Atletico Madrid will be able to qualify for the next stage. Unfortunately, the opponent they face is Real Madrid, which is certainly a very difficult opponent. Especially in terms of penalty shootouts. We know that Real Madrid is always superior in this regard. But I like Atletico Madrid's game and yes, Atletico Madrid should maintain the rhythm of play they had in the first minutes of their game. because they could have added goals in that match in normal times.
Seriously speaking, Athletico Madrid despite being eliminated from the champions league still make their fans proud with their outstanding performance. They played both regular and extra time pushing Real Madrid against the wall. Just like I said yesterday about Liverpool and PSG, penalty shootout is a game of luck and the most luckiest team wins. It has nothing to do with your overall match performance, it's purely on luck. Let be realistic, Madrid is just too good with luck usually on their side when it comes to champions league tournament.
But if Dortmund's luck is still as great as last season, then Dortmund could surprise again by winning against Barcelona. But yeah it requires luck. Because without it Barcelona would really beat Dortmund badly. Moreover, Barcelona currently has sharpness in their attack line. Barcelona this season has been very productive in scoring goals. So the opposing team must really prepare a strong back line to be able to withstand every attack launched by Barcelona.
In the first leg of the quarter-finals, Barcelona even hosted. So Dortmund really has to be able to strengthen their defense. Because of course Barcelona will target scoring a lot of goals in the first leg. But Dortmund actually also has a pretty good level of back line. So I think it will still be a fierce match in the end.
More like how we assumed Liverpool would destroy PSG but the reverse happens to be the case. Although, I'm even surprised to see Dortmund qualified to this stage as their performance has been a wack this season. Barcelona remains the favourite both home and away but as you said, if Dortmund hasn't run out of luck, they probably might make things difficult for Barcelona.