Watch Liverpool

• Liverpool must make most of 1,300 mile journey by land
• ‘I don’t think it’s something that will be noticed on the pitch’

The Atlético Madrid midfielder José Manuel Jurado does not believe Liverpool will show any ill-effects from their gruelling road and rail trip to Spain when the teams meet in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tomorrow night.

With much of Europe’s airspace closed in recent days due to Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud, Liverpool have been forced to make most of their 1,300-mile journey by land, meaning the trip will take close to 24 hours. Rafael Benítez’s side set out yesterday – the day after they faced West Ham United in the Barclays Premier League at Anfield – with a train to London, followed by the Eurostar to Paris, where they spent the night.

Today they are scheduled to take another train to Bordeaux before making a short flight to the Spanish capital, where they are due to arrive at lunchtime. Jurado, however, doubts Liverpool’s trip will have any discernible impact on their performance tomorrow night.

“I’m sorry that they have to travel so many kilometres to get to Madrid, although I don’t think it’s something that will be noticed on the pitch,” Jurado said. “I think, more than the journey, they could be more tired because they played on Monday, but in a semi-final like this you don’t notice fatigue.”

Atlético go into the match having lost four of their last five La Liga matches – a run that has left them 10th in the standings, nine points off the European places and only eight above the relegation zone. However, despite their largely miserable league campaign, Atlético still have two chances to pick up their first major silverware since 1996, when they won the league and cup double.

They have already reached the final of the Copa del Rey, where they will face Sevilla next month, and now have the opportunity to make their first major European final since 1986 if they can get past Liverpool.

“We are two great teams. The tie is 50-50,” says Jurado. “We are going to make things difficult for Liverpool, the same as they will try to do for us. We have a lot of respect for our opponents, who are one of the greats of Europe and they are dangerous, but we are in the semi-finals and we have to take them on face to face.

“It will be a match of high tension and maximum concentration. We shouldn’t be nervous. We have to play and try to enjoy ourselves. We have to face a great opponent, but we are also great and that’s why we’ve got to this stage.”

Quique Sánchez Flores’s men will have to do without the suspended striker Sergio Agüero tomorrow night, but Jurado is hopeful that they can cope without the Argentinian. “The loss of Kun is important because he is a great player and very important for the group, but we will try to ensure his absence on the pitch is noticed as little as possible,” he said.

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