Atletico Madrid in danger of elimination

Posted Tuesday, December 14, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP)—Diego Forlan needs to come up with another night of magic on Thursday at Bayer Leverkusen if defending champion Atletico Madrid is to make it into the last 32 of the Europa League—and even that may not be enough.

Atletico must do better than Aris at home against Rosenborg to become one of the top two teams to advance from Group B.

In his last trip to Germany, Forlan was the star of Atletico’s 2-1 win in last season’s final over Fulham in Hamburg, scoring both goals. It was the first final of the competition that succeeded the UEFA Cup.

Aris completed a double over Atletico by rallying to a 3-2 win in the Spanish capital two weeks ago and now has a better head-to-head record. It means Atletico must finish above Aris on points to qualify.

“What happened (against Aris) won’t happen again,” said Atletico striker Sergio Aguero, in reference to his side squandering a 2-1 lead in the home loss to Aris.

Aris won 1-0 at home.

Tensions are running high with Atletico’s European future in the balance, with Forlan and Mario Suarez seen tussling during a training session on Monday.

Forlan has six goals for Atletico in the Spanish league so far this season. Forlan played for Manchester United when it was eliminated in the Champions League semifinals in 2002 by Leverkusen and nearly scored a goal that would have taken United to the final but had his shot cleared on the line.

Leverkusen is second in the Bundesliga and is coming off a 4-2 win at Hamburg. Leverkusen is the only team to have beaten Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga this season.

Guided by veteran coach Jupp Heynckes, Leverkusen has easily qualified for the last 32, staying undefeated and conceding only one goal in five games.

That goal came in the 1-1 draw against Atletico in Madrid and was scored by Simao.

Atletico’s chance may be that Leverkusen is likely to be more concerned about not falling further behind Dortmund in the Bundesliga, where the gap is now 11 points.

Although Leverkusen has had to deal with a series of injuries to key players, Heynckes’ team has flourished, carried on by Arturo Vidal and Renato Augusto, and the breakthrough of Sidney Sam, who has scored six goals in the Bundesliga.