Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone says his players' focus and not the fans' enthusiasm will be key to winning Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg at home to Barcelona.
Simeone's side go into the game trailing 2-1 after last week's fiery first leg at the Camp Nou, when Atletico striker Fernando Torres scored and was then sent off, and Barca's Luis Suarez remained on the pitch despite some clashes with opponents and went on to score two second-half goals.
Atletico's anger at what they felt was unfair treatment from the officials has continued through the week, with a heated atmosphere expected at a full Calderon on Wednesday evening, but the Colchoneros coach told his prematch news conference that his players would need to put everything else out of their minds and focus on making the game difficult for Barca.
"The fans' enthusiasm and everything around the game is fantastic," Simeone said. "But the Barcelona players will not be surprised by it. We must focus on our own jobs, the fans will respond as they always do.
"We will prepare for the game [with] the things we consider important and bring the game to a place where we want -- with intensity and [physical] contact. Barcelona will play the game they normally play."
Simeone did not respond to the suggestion that the game was a chance to get revenge for last week's perceived injustice.
"What happened before stays before," he said. "During the game things can come up which have happened before, but before the game what has happened before will not have any influence. We must deal with the absence of Fernando Torres, and control a terrific player like Luis Suarez."
Sources close to the Atletico squad have suggested that Augusto Fernandez will come into midfield for the game, with either Yannick Carrasco, Angel Correa or Luciano Vietto partnering top scorer Antoine Griezmann up front.
"You try to improve on what you are doing from game to game," Simeone said. "We will look for some options to see if we can do them damage, and, more importantly, win the game. Luciano [Vietto], Correa, Carrasco... We will have a number of options that we can use in the game."