Hansi Flick wants Barcelona to prioritise pressurising Atletico Madrid when the five-time European champions make a second attempt this season to overturn a first-leg deficit at home to Diego Simeone’s side.
Trailing 4-0 from the first leg in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, Barca went out despite a 3-0 win over Atleti on March 3 but know the same result would send them to a semi-final against Sporting or Arsenal this time.
“If they don’t have that pressure, they play well and it’s not easy to defend against them,” Flick said, analysing familiar opponents.
“We need to have a good connection between our players. As I said before, some matches are decided in moments… that’s football and we’ll see if things go our way. Fingers crossed.”
Barca produced 15 of the 20 attempts between the teams and eight of the 11 on target last Wednesday but had Pau Cubarsi dismissed before Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth gave Atleti a 2-0 victory.
“We are convinced of what we have to do and what we need to do,” declared Simeone. “We are going to go for it.
“Our objective is to move forward and we will play the match to achieve that. Everything we imagine before the match might just be imagination.
“But then the game starts and everything we can think about fades away. What remains is faith, hoping that the team continues to perform as it has been, and confidence in what we want.”
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona team news
Jose Maria Giménez (unspecified) and David Hancko (ankle) are injured for Atleti. Fellow defender Marc Pubill is banned.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak (muscular) and midfielders Pablo Barrios (thigh) and Johnny Cardoso (adductor) are doubts.
Thiago Almada, Alex Baena, Barrios, Clement Lenglet, Robin Le Normand, Marcos Llorente, Matteo Ruggeri and Giuliano Simeone are each a booking away from a suspension in the competition.
Cubarsi is suspended and defender Andreas Christensen (knee) is injured for Barcelona, who also have midfielder Marc Bernal (ankle) and forward Raphinha sidelined.
Left-back Gerard Martin is a doubt after suffering an ankle injury in the 4-1 home win over Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.
Marc Casado, Joao Cancelo, Fermin Lopez, Martin and Lamine Yamal must avoid cautions or face bans.
