Atletico Madrid vs Hannover 96 Preview Match : UEFA Europa League 2011/2012

Diego Simeone's men welcome Germans at the Vicente Calderon

March 29, 2012 8:05 PM BST
Estadio Vicente Calderón — Madrid
Referee:‬ S. Lannoy‎

Team News

Atletico Madrid 

Atletico are only without Antonio Lopez and Silvio for this Europa League quarter final first leg. Tiago missed the game at Zaragoza at the weekend due to injury, but has returned to training and is in line to start this match. Arda Turan has also made a successful return from injury, completing 90 minutes against Zaragoza, and could play again here. Diego came off the bench after recently recovering from injury, and should start behind goal-machine Falcao.

probable lineups : Courtois, Luis, Domínguez, Godín, Perea, Tiago, Assunção, Adrián, Diego, Turan, Falcao. (4-2-3-1).

 

Mar 25, 2012	Zaragoza 1 - Atletico Madrid 0
Mar 21, 2012	Atletico Madrid 2 - Athletic Bilbao 1
Mar 18, 2012	Mallorca 2 - Atletico Madrid 1
Mar 15, 2012	Besiktas 0 - Atletico Madrid 3
Mar 11, 2012	Atletico Madrid 2 - Granada 0

 

Hannover 96 

 

 Leon Andreasen remains Hannovers only absentee, as manager Slomka has, for the most part, a fully fit squad to choose from once again. Karim Haggui was rested against Bayern at the weekend and should come back in at the heart of defence, though whether he partners Eggiman or Pogatetz is unclear. Mame Biram Diouf made a successful return from injury against Bayern, and should continue up front in a 4-4-2 formation.

 

probable lineups : Zieler, Cherundolo, Eggimann, Haggui, Pander, Schlaudraff, Pinto, Stindl, Rausch, Diouf, Abdellaoue. (4-4-2).

Mar 24, 2012	FC Bayern München 2 - Hannover 96 1
Mar 18, 2012	Hannover 96 4 - FC Köln 1
Mar 15, 2012	Hannover 96 4 - Standard Liege 0
Mar 11, 2012	Werder Bremen 3 - Hannover 96 0
Mar 8, 2012	Standard Liege 2 - Hannover 96 2

Head to Head
Match Facts
Atletico Madrid have won their last 7 matches in UEFA Europa League : Atletico Madrid Win.
Atletico Madrid have been winning at both half time and full time in 6 of their last 7 matches in UEFA Europa League : Atletico Madrid Win/Win (HT/FT).

Hannover 96 have scored at least 2 goals in 7 of their last 9 matches in UEFA Europa League : Over 1.5 Goals.
Hannover 96 are undefeated in 11 of their last 12 matches in UEFA Europa League : Hannover 96 win or draw.


Prediction
Atletico Madrid have improved massively since Diego Simeone took over at the club at the turn of the year, and have convincingly come through both of their Europa League knockout rounds, against potentially tricky opponents. They beat Lazio 4-1 on aggregate, before strolling past Besiktas, 6-1 in the next round. On both occasions they won the first leg of the tie 3-1, and Simeone will be hopeful of a similar outcome here. They have, however, lost 2 of their last 3 matches and will need to up their game in order to get a result.

Hannover come into the game off the back of a good performance and decent result at Bayern Munich at the weekend. They may have lost the game 2-1, but they subdued Bayern's great attack for much of the game and can take a lot from their performance (and the achievement of keeping the scoring down to 2). After a poor run of 4 games without a win, including a stuttering 2-2 draw at Club Bruges, Hannover scored 4 goals in and won 2 games in a row before the loss at Bayern. They are clearly growing in confidence, and may have timed this improvement perfectely as the season reaches its climax.

However, Atletico have lost at home only 3 times all season, winning all 7 of their games at home in the Europa League, and conceding only 3 goals. They raise their game on home soil in this competition and should be strong favourites to win this game as a result. Hannover have looked good going forward in recent weeks, though, and should back themselves to get an important away goal, keeping the tie alive for the second leg.

Atletico Madrid  1 - 1  Hannover 96