Antoine Griezmann has scored more goals against Athletic (14) than any other opponent. | Photo by Diego Souto/Getty Images

The first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal. Atlético de Madrid host Athletic Club on Wednesday night in the first leg of what will surely be an intense and tightly-contested Copa del Rey semifinal.
For the first time since 2017, Atlético Madrid are one of the last four teams standing in the Copa del Rey ? but Athletic have been one of these teams for a while. Los Leones will be playing in the domestic cup semifinals for a fifth consecutive season, a stretch that has seen them progress to the final twice (in 2020 and in 2021) only to lose both times.
?Tomorrow, I hope for a huge atmosphere inside our stadium,? Diego Simeone told reporters on Tuesday. ?We need our people more than ever, you can feel it when they?re with us because the team plays at another pace and with a different energy. Hopefully, we will have the support of our fans, because we need all of them.?
Atléticos, Simeone tiene un mensaje para vosotros: pic.twitter.com/HHauRAr3xV? Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) February 6, 2024

Atlético are unbeaten across its past six games and saw a five-game winning streak snapped at the weekend, when Marcos Llorente had to come to the rescue deep in second-half stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid. After playing the entire match on Sunday, Llorente might not start against Athletic ? but Simeone on Tuesday ...