ATLÉTICO - BARCELONA
Ufarte: “If Atleti go in front, you'd expect them to go through”
Armando Ufarte was one of Atlético's star players in the 1970s. With him, the Rojiblancos recorded one of their greatest European comeback against Cagliari.
You were part of the Atlético team which staged one of the great European comebacks against Cagliari, one of the big Italian sides of the 70s...
Yes, that's right. We put in a great game, an intense, gritty performance, Cagliari were one of the best teams on the continent back then. Luis Aragonés scored a hat trick in that game. We won 3-0 and went through to the next round.
Luigi Riva was their star player...
He was a great player - skillful and a goal scorer. Nowadays Italy don't dominate European football so much but back then, they were the strongest nation. Atleti had a decent side and defensively, Cagliari were one of the best around and they also had great individual players.
To beat Barcelona tonight, El Cholo's Atlético have to be just as efficient as that Atlético side which beat Cagliari...
Absolutely. If Atlético go ahead on the score board it will be very difficult for Barça to get through the tie. To me, Atlético seem very united and it's very difficult for any team to put goals past them... If they take the lead, I'd be very surprised if they don't go through.
What kind of game do you envisage tonight at the Vicente Calderón?
A very passionate one. Barcelona have very little margin in the league now, they cannot afford to slip up again. If they're not careful, they'll lose the league. And the same thing could happen to them in Europe. They have three magnificent players in attack, but none of them have quite been the same since coming back from international duty with their national sides. They are brilliant players, but they're not at their usual level. Let's hope it stays that way.