Atletico Madrid midfielder Tiago is wary of Barcelona’s threat ahead of their Spanish Cup tie on Wednesday, but believes his team have the wherewithal to beat the Catalans.

Diego Simeone’s team were beaten 1-0 courtesy of a Lionel Messi goal in the first leg of their Spanish Cup tie last week. The reverse means Atletico Madrid will need to overhaul the deficit in order to progress further in the competition.




Los Rojiblancos defeated their fierce derby rivals Real Madrid in their round of 16 tie 4-2 over the two legs and Tiago believes Barcelona, even though they posses a wealth of talented players, can also be overcome, dubbing the match a "great opportunity".

"Barcelona are on fire. They seem to get better with each game they play. It's a great opportunity for us against world-class players. We're going to try”, Tiago was quoted as saying by Marca.
 


However, the Portuguese is aware of the threat posed by Barcelona forwards Neymar and Messi, who have scored a combined 35 goals in the league this season so far.  

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“Messi and Neymar are really good and are in great form.

“We can only stop them as a team. We aren't scared of Barcelona. It's great to be able to play them", the Portuguese concluded.

Atletico Madrid, who beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at the weekend to remain in touch with the leaders in La Liga, will host Barcelona in the second leg of their Spanish Cup tie on Wednesday at the Vicente Calderon.

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