As the pundits like to say, Bolton have the job half done against Atletico Madrid after they beat the Spanish outfit 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium on Thursday evening. Despite their advantage (courtesy of El Hadji Diouf), along with the fact that the Primera Liga team failed to notch an away goal, Trotters boss Gary Megson insists (courtesy of Sky Sports) that they are still underdogs going into next week’s second leg match in Madrid.
“Atletico have an exceptional squad even without Aguero,” said Megson. “We feel 1-0 is a slender lead to take to an exceptional team like them.
“We do know from my time here we have a good team, a solid team and capable of scoring the odd goal away from home. But they are still favourites.”
Are Atletico really as ‘exceptional’ as Megson would have us believe? While they’re fourth in the Spanish League, Bolton demonstrated when drawing 2-2 at Bayern Munich that they should fear nobody in this competition, especially with Sergio Aguero suspended after spitting towards the referee on Thursday night. Can the Wanderers continue their European adventure?