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| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
ATLETICO  Courtois Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Suarez, Gabi Arda, Adrian, Koke Falcao | LAZIO  Marchetti Zauri, Ledesma, Dias Gonzales, Matuzalem, Candreva, Lulic Hernanes Kozak, Rozzi |
Diego Simeone will be without the services of his Brazilian namesake, who has been ruled out for a month. However, the return of Arda Turan could prove timely to the Argentine, with the Turkish midfielder set to provide some creativity in the former Juventus man's absence.
Elsewhere, Atletico can name an unchanged team from the one that faced Sporting Gijon over weekend with Sergio Asenjo will miss the games for family reasons, and Antonio Lopez a prolonged absentee. Lazio will be without a host of players for the trip to Madrid. Miroslav Klose is out with a back problem, while Tomasso Rocchi, Cristian Brocchi, Lorik Cana, Giuseppe Biava and Marius Stankevicius remain injured. The dearth of strikers could hand a start to 17-year-old Antonio Rozzi, who has made inroads into the first-team in recent weeks.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- Atletico manager Diego Simeone represented the Italian side between 1999 and 2003.
- The Spanish side have won their last five home matches in European competition; meanwhile Lazio have failed to win in their last three away games.
- Arda Turan and Lorik Cana will be well-acquainted as were team-mates at Galatasaray last season.
- Spain has not been a happy hunting ground for Lazio - they have won just once in the Iberian nation.
- However, the Italians will have happy memories of facing a Spanish club - they beat Real Mallorca in the 1999 Uefa Cup final.
- The Roman club have never won the competition in its current guise, but they did win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1999, following the victory up with Super Cup glory three months later.
With the unrest surrounding Edy Reja's future, the string of missing players and the dominant nature of Atletico's victory last week, it's difficult to foresee a Lazio victory here. The Spaniards will be full of confidence following the result in Rome and I'd back them to ease to victory here and secure their place in the next round.
Editor's Prediction
Atl. Madrid 2-0 Lazio 
