The winner of the tie will surely meet Arsenal, who is in a virtually unassailable position to reach the quarterfinals after a 7-1 victory at PSV Eindhoven in Tuesday's first leg.

Simeone disappointed

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was disappointed that his side failed to capitalize on the control it had for long periods of its 2-1 defeat to rival Real Madrid.

But Simeone said he was happy with how his team reacted to conceding an early goal, adding that he felt confident they could turn the tie around in the second leg at the Metropolitano stadium next week, as it did against Inter Milan at the same stage last year.

"We should have taken better advantage when we had control of the game," Simeone said.

"It's difficult to take risks so that with any counterattack you end up losing the game. We controlled that situation very well, but we were missing (something) in the final meters."

The Argentine said he was confident that the atmosphere at its home ground would give Atletico "a stimulus" and that while his team goes into the second leg behind, it could have been much worse had Real taken a late chance on Tuesday.

Real's Mbappe failed to find Vinicius with a pass in the final moments of the match that could have led to another goal.

"Maybe the hope of that no goal opens the door for what's to come," he said.

It was the 15th Champions League goal for Alvarez in 26 matches. His Argentina teammate Lionel Messi had 13 goals after his first 26 games in the European competition.

"They scored their goals at the right moments," Alvarez said. "At times, we had control of the match. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. There is a one-goal difference and there are 90 minutes left in front of our fans at home."

Agencies