Diego Simeone predicts gruelling Celtic battle as Atletico boss prays star man recovers from injury

Diego Simeone has predicted Celtic will give his in-form Atletico Madrid a huge test this week in their Champions League showdown.

The La Liga high-fliers romped to their sixth win in a row in all competitions with a 3-0 victory at Celta Vigo at the weekend, although they were helped when home keeper Ivan Villar was sent off in the 25th minute. French international Antoine Griezmann helped himself to a hat-trick against former Celtic defender Carl Starfelt and Atletico are in ominous form ahead of their trip to Glasgow.

Celtic have not won a home game in the group stages of the Champions League for ten years, but Simeone will treat the Hoops with plenty of respect. And they have a major doubt over Brazilian winger Samuel Lino, after he picked up a knee injury. He said: "We are now thinking about Celtic. We expect a very difficult game on Wednesday. I want us to rest well ahead of the game in Glasgow because we put a lot of effort into this, especially Antoine Griezmann. We thought about resting him, but decided against it. We have always taken it game by game from the very first day I arrived here. And now we only think about Celtic.

"Samuel Lino took a heavy blow to the knee and will be assessed as soon as possible. I hope it's not a major injury. Although the scoreline looks comfortable, we must not forget that Celta made a very strong start. But the penalty and sending off changed the game. We controlled it after that."

And Celta boss Rafa Benitez, the former Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle manager, admitted Atletico are a quality side.
He stated: "It would be difficult enough to play Atletico with 11 men and ten made it impossible. Atletico are a very good side who are challenging for the title."