By Mark Heys
February 20 2008

Bolton Wanderers will eclipse their best ever run in a European competition if they manage to defeat Spanish club Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the final 32 phase at the Vicente Calderon tommorow evening.

Should Wanderers pick up the three points or draw to go through to the next round then they will have gone a stage further than when they previously took part in this cup in the 2005-2006 campaign.

Many see it as a tough task, but Bolton have performed well in the UEFA Cup this season and have gained morale boosting results against the likes of Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade earlier in the competition.

Despite taking a 1-0 lead over to Spain, the Trotters manager Gary Megson is cautious about the threat which Madrid pose and he is urging his side to complete what they started last week and possibly grab a crucial early away goal.

Tensions ran high in the first leg at the Reebok Stadium with both players having a coming together in the first half and Atletico substitute Sergio Aguero receiving his marching orders later in the game for an alleged spitting incident.

Since then matters off the pitch have taken centre stage with Atletico apparently having leaked confidential information about Bolton's hotel and travel arrangements on their official website.

Bolton will once again be without the ineligable Gretar Steinsson for this match so Nicky Hunt will replace the Icelandic star at right back.

Midfielder Tamir Cohen is also forbidden to play against the Spaniards and  Heidar Helguson and Gavin McCann are slight doubts with injuries.

Atletico boss Javier Aguirre has a doubt over Simao Sabrosa after the former Benfica player was stretchered off at the Reebok with a thigh strain.

Unlike Bolton the Spanish outfit had a game at the weekend when losing at home to Atletico Bilbao so they will be eager to avoid any more slip ups in front of their own crowd.

The Wanderers will however be looking to defy the odds once again to achieve what will hopefully be another memorable European night for them.

LAST TIME WE MET:

14/02/2008 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Diouf) ATLETICO MADRID 0

BOLTON: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Gary Cahill, Andy O'Brien, Jlloyd Samuel, Danny Guthrie (Stelios Giannakopoulos), Ivan Campo, Kevin Nolan, El-Hadji Diouf, Kevin Davies, Matthew Taylor

SUBS NOT USED: Abdoulaye Meite, Andranik Teimourian, Ricardo Vaz-Te, Joey O'Brien, James Sinclair, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

ATLETICO MADRID: Christian Abbiati, Mariano Pernia, Pablo Ibanez, Luis Perea, Antonio Lopez, Jose Antonio Reyes (Sergio Aguero), Simao Sabrosa (Jose Jurado), Cleber Santana, Maxi Rodriguez, Diego Forlan, Mista (Miguel)

SUBS NOT USED: Fabiano, Alejandro Rodriguez, Alvaro Dominguez, Salcon (GK)

PLAYED FOR BOTH:

Salva Ballesta, Quinton Fortune, Javi Moreno

DID YOU KNOW?

Former Bolton loanee Salva has had two spells with Atletico in the 2000-2001 season and again in the 2004-2005 season. In his first spell he hit 21 goals from 33 games but his return was less fruitful with 7 strikes in 28 games.

Jose Antonio Reyes and Diego Forlan are both holders of a Premier League winners medal. South American Forlan was part of the Manchester United team to lift the trophy in the 2002-2003 season and Reyes did likewise a year later with Arsenal.