Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke stated on Monday that his team must play with a "strong personality" to prevent Barcelona from making a comeback in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. "The Rojiblancos" won the first leg 2-0 at Camp Nou last week and will host the return match on Tuesday (23:00 UAE time), aiming to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2017. The Catalan giant reached the last four last season and arrives at the Metropolitano determined to turn the tables and put pressure on the hosts from the start. Koke told reporters: "It is very important to overcome the pressure they usually exert." He continued: "It is a team that relies on a very high press, pushing their lines almost to the halfway line, pressing and suffocating you." He added: "This is where our personality comes in, when it's time to play, in the desire to have the ball, to make ourselves available, and to make movements into the spaces behind the defense." This will be the third meeting between the teams in the last two weeks and the sixth this season, with Atletico having eliminated Barcelona from the Copa del Rey semi-finals. The midfielder added: "We have faced each other many times this year." He continued: "We know each other well, and it will be very important to win the ball from them, to exploit the spaces well, and to have the necessary personality to demand the ball and not give it away." Koke had scored against the Catalan giant in the 2014 quarter-final, and then the capital-based club, which had never won the competition, reached the final, as it did in 2016, before losing on both occasions to their neighbor Real. Koke admitted: "I have watched that goal many times." He added: "As these types of matches approach, you try to motivate yourself and imagine many positive things that have happened, like in 2014, like in 2016, and also like in the first leg a week ago." Atletico coach Diego Simeone, for his part, preferred not to show his cards before the return match, refusing to confirm Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak's availability to start or discuss additional details. Simeone said: "We are fully aware of the strength of the opponent we will face, but at the same time, we are clear about our goal, which is to qualify."
