Atletico’s players joke during a training session at the Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon on August 12, 2020 on the eve of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final football match between Leipzig and Atletico Madrid. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)
Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Wednesday that he believes the new format of the Champions League will level the playing field in their quarter-final with experienced European competitors Atletico Madrid.
Leipzig, founded in 2009, are in the Champions League’s knock-out stages for the first time in the club’s brief history and face Atletico on Thursday.
In contrast, the La Liga side reached the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals, losing both times to Real Madrid, and won the Europa League in 2012 and 2018 under head coach Diego Simeone.
However, the Champions League’s new format — one-off knock-out games instead of two-leg ties — sees both teams step into the unknown.
“We know that they have a lot of experience…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
