Atletico Madrid will aim to turn jeers into cheers this week when
they host Racing Santander in the first leg of their Copa del Rey
semi-final.
Atletico were booed off by their fans at both half-time and
full-time on Sunday as they crashed to a 2-0 loss to fourth-bottom
Malaga at the Vicente Calderon.
That was a ninth defeat of what has been a miserable league
campaign for the Rojiblancos so far, and left them 13th in the
standings and only six points above the relegation zone.
Europe has not been much kinder to Atletico this season
either, and they were somewhat fortunate to scrape into the Europa
League despite failing to win any of their Champions League group
matches. However, they were not so lucky with their draw for the
last 32 of the Europa League, where they paired against Turkish
giants Galatasaray.
The Copa del Rey, therefore, has been the main bright spot in
what has been a largely forgettable campaign and represents
probably Atletico's best chance to win their first silverware since
1996 - when they claimed the league and cup double - as well as
getting back into Europe next season.
Atletico defender Tomas Ujfalusi admits Thursday's clash
against Racing could help them on a number of fronts, although he
insists they have not given up hope of finishing in the top six in
the Primera Division.
"If we beat Racing, the team will gain confidence and we'll
take a step forward in our aspirations," he said.
"The squad is very excited about the possibility of playing
in the cup final, but we're not ruling out La Liga. We want to get
closer to the top spots and to do that we have to win matches.
"The shortest path to make it to Europe is through the Copa
del Rey, but we can make up 11 points. We're not ruling anything
out."
Regarding the reaction of his side's supporters to Sunday's
defeat, the Czech Republic international added: "We understand that
the fans are angry with the team.
"I wouldn't know how to explain what is happening to the
team. We gave a very good image against Celta (in Copa del Rey
quarter-final). We were very bad against Mlaga, and that has
happened to us several times this season."
Racing will be no pushovers, though, and they go into
Thursday's clash having won eight of their last 12 competitive
matc1-0 but they cannot be overly confident of a repeat success
this time around against a mercurial Getafe side who are enjoying a
fine, if inconsistent, season.
Michel's men, who had not drawn a game prior to Sunday's
goalless stalemate with Racing, are seventh in the standings and
only five points behind Sevilla in fourth.
Getafe have also beaten all three other semi-finalists in the
league already this season, downing Racing 4-1 away on the opening
day, Sevilla 2-1 away and Atletico 1-0 at home.
Also, having reached the cup final in two of the previous
three years, they have a proven track record in this competition.
Sevilla, meanwhile, warmed up for Wednesday's first leg at
the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with a 2-1 win over Valencia on Sunday, a
second successive league win for Manolo Jimenez's side following a
run of four defeats.
The second legs of both semi-finals will be played next week.
