Apoel Nicosia
Tuesday 15th September 2009
Venue: Vicente Calderon
Kick-off: 19:45
French forward focused on Champions League
Florent Sinama-Pongolle believes Atletico Madrid have the chance to put their poor Primera Division form behind them as they take on APOEL in the Champions League.
The Rojiblanco's 1-1 draw against Racing Santander brought them their first point of the season and they are currently in the bottom three of the table.
The French striker believes a good result in the Champions League Group D match will help them get their season up and running.
He said: "Now we have a string of games in which we have the opportunity to do things well.
"We only have a little bit of time to think between one match and the next, but we can compete. We're going to play a very important encounter against APOEL this Tuesday and we want to play well," he told www.clubatleticomadrid.com.
Sinama-Pongolle rued the missed chance against Santander, as victory could have provided them with a needed boost ahead of European competition.
"It's a shame not to have got the win because if we had done so it would have given us lots of confidence going into the upcoming matches," he added.
"Champions League is another competition and is very different from La Liga. Last year we were eliminated from the Champions League without losing a single match. La Liga is a long competition in which things can change a lot.
"Beating APOEL would be very good for us to change the recent trend and give our supporters something to cheer about."
Sinama-Pongolle believes Atletico can cope with the demands of domestic and European competition this season despite not having a large squad.
He said: "We know that we don't a very large roster, but we have plenty of quality. Having a big squad with players who can't deal with the commitments required by the team doesn't help at all.
"The coach is counting on all of us and that's good because we have a heavy schedule. We're all prepared to come on when he needs us."
Cypriot side APOEL take a break from the Marfin Laiki Championship after picking up their first point of the season at the weekend.
The 0-0 draw at home to AEP sees APOEL lie eighth in the table after two games.
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