Barcelona must score opener, says Martino

 

  The Catalans have failed to score first in the clubs' three previous meetings this season, which all ended in draws, and the coach is keen to change that trend

Gerardo Martino stressed the importance of the first goal in Barcelona's Champions League quarter-final second-leg at Atletico Madrid.

The two sides have played four times this season in three separate competitions and each time the match has ended in a draw

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Barca have not been in front in any of those games, with Diego Ribas' spectacular opener in the first-leg at Camp Nou last week being cancelled out by Neymar's equaliser, but the Argentine coach wants to buck that trend in Wednesday's clash.

"We haven't been leading at any point and that's very important," Martino told reporters. "We need to score at least one goal tomorrow and let's see if we can create the scenario of us leading and try to manage the game from there on.

"That's just how the games have worked out. We could have scored first in those games but we didn't.

"I really think that we have to go into this game and keep our intensity up for the full 90 minutes. We know if we go a goal up we can play a different game to the ones we have seen in the previous cases."

A goalless draw or defeat will see Barca eliminated from Europe, a 1-1 result after 90 minutes will take the game into extra-time, while a win or a draw of 2-2 or higher would see Diego Simeone's men dumped out of the competition.