European Vendetta

Atletico and Udinese again come face to face with the same at stake, the leadership of Group I of the UEFA Europa League. The Italians won the battle of Udine with two goals in the closing stages of the meeting and on Thursday at 21:05 hours they meet again in Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.   Manzano’s men, who won clearly against  Zaragoza on Sunday at the Calderon in the league. The team from the banks of the Manzanares river needs two goals whilst keeping a clean sheet to go top in order to regain the lead of the Group.   The sats gives reason for optimism. The only occasion when Udinese faced  Spanish opposition away from home in European competition was against Barcelona in the Champions League 2005/06 and they lost 4-1, something Atletico would not mind repeating. The record against Italian rivals for Atletico is not bad. On the banks of the Manzanares, Madrid residents have five wins, one draw and three defeats in nine games. In addition, the current streak of Manzano in Europe is positive. The team has gone five games without being beaten at home, with three wins and two draws. This Thursday they will have a new opportunity to extend this streak.