Barcelona will have a mental advantage heading to the fixture on Wednesday having recorded a 3-1 win over their counterparts when the two sides met in a league encounter earlier this month. Atleti have faced the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona thrice in their last four games and even though they were able to get the better of Carlo Ancelotti's side, Diego Simeone's tactics failed against Barca.
The Argentinean has claimed that his team will be facing the best Barcelona side in recent times but is hoping his team can make a better start to the game.
"We must start the game better because the start was not good [in the Liga clash]," he told reporters.
"We have to play with the intensity and pressure that we usually do. Against a team like Barcelona, who did very well in the first half an hour, we had complications.
"We face a great opponent. We are facing the best Barcelona in recent times.
"It is clear that 90 minutes will be very hard and every minute spent on the game will be of significance for the second leg.
"The key is how to work out how and where to attack. If we can bring the game to where we want to attack we will have options.
"We need to understand how to attack a team like Barcelona. And if we understand we will have options."
However to make things more difficult for Atletico, Lionel Messi has been at his supreme best in recent games and will be raring to continue his phenomenal run. The mercurial forward scored his 30th hat trick for his club as Barcelona recorded a 4-0 win over Deportivo last time out. Following a shock defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad, Barca have scored 16 goals in a space of four games.
Atletico fans on the other hand saw the striking pair of Torres and Mario Mandzukic start together for the first time and the duo was impressive as Atletico scored a 2-0 win over Granada. Mandzukic opened the scoring after converting from the spot and Raul Garcia added another late in the game to seal the win for his side.
Barcelona vs Atletico team sheets
Barcelona's Starting XI: Ter Stegen; Alves, Mascherano, Piqué, Alba; Rakitic, Sergio, Iniesta; Suárez, Messi, Neymar Jr.
Atletico's Starting XI: Oblak, Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Siqueira, Mario Suarez, Gabi, Koke, Arda Turan, Griezmann, Torres.
Barcelona's subs: Masip, Xavi, Pedro, Rafinha, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Adriano.
Atletico's subs: Moyá, Gimenez, Gamez, Saul, Raul Garcia, Mandzukic, Raul Jimenez.
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