Iv?n Campo, the Bolton Wanderers midfield player, is hardly understating matters when he says that the Reebok Stadium is not a bubbling inferno of atmosphere but he has promised Atl?tico Madrid a thorough examination in the Uefa Cup this evening.
Bolton’s cause is helped by the promise by Gary Megson, the manager, not to select a fringe side. Campo was jettisoned from Bolton’s European squad in the early stages of the competition by Sammy Lee, the previous manager. He is one of three adjustments to the squad, alongside Gary Cahill and Matthew Taylor, the new signings. Campo, the former Real Madrid player, will be a key figure in Megson’s five-man midfield.
Campo, 33, said: “When Atl?tico come here they won’t find an inferno. The Reebok isn’t that intimidating but if we start well and score, people will appreciate it. We’re not the favourites to win this round, but we do have our chances. This is an English team in essence. We work all we can and we’ll try to make Atl?tico suffer. Even if they do well in Bolton, we won’t give up in Madrid. Bolton is an old-school English side, one that fights.”
Megson has been unashamed in his approach to the tournament, with his back-up players scrapping out a 2-2 draw away to Bayern Munich and winning 1-0 away to Red Star Belgrade as the majority of his first team was held back for the battle to stay in the Barclays Premier League.
With a similar second string having been dumped out of the FA Cup in the third round by Sheffield United, Bolton have no game at the weekend and Megson is set to select a full-strength team to face a side that is fourth in La Liga, 15 points behind Real, their city rivals. Gretar Steinsson and Tamir Cohen, Megson’s other new signings, are cup-tied, and Megson was unable to register Grzegorz Rasiak, the on-loan Southampton forward.
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While Megson was refusing to lean on Bolton’s reputation for direct and aggressive play as a way of intimidating Atl?tico, he is in no doubt about where his team’s strengths lie and for once they will be playing in front of a sell-out crowd tonight. “The Premiership has always been the ultimate,” Megson said. “We all know where we want to be next year but on this occasion it’s maybe a little bit different to how it’s been in the past. We’re not looking at a team to put out there that’s got to play in three or four days time. “[Atl?tico] won’t be kicked around but they will be challenged. The set-pieces will go into the box and they’ll have to be brave and put their head in there. The tempo they’re asked to play at will be a Premiership tempo that we play in week in, week out and they’ll have to cope with that.”
Atl?tico are without Luis Garcia, the former Liverpool player, through suspension but there will be a return to England for Jos? Antonio Reyes, the former Arsenal forward, as well as Diego Forl?n, who began an uninspired 2½ seasons with Manchester United as a substitute in a 4-0 victory at the Reebok Stadium in January 2002.
Megson expects the Uruguay striker to offer a much more serious threat than when he was maligned in his time at Old Trafford. “He’s a quality player,” Megson said. “He was younger when he was at United and sometimes you can go somewhere and it’s maybe a bit too much for you and at United you would find that out very quickly.
“But he’s more experienced, he’s more mature and you can see that with the way that he plays and the goals that he gets. Certainly he’s a talented lad.”
Bolton Wanderers (probable; 4-5-1): J Jaaskelainen – J O’Brien, A O’Brien, G Cahill, R Gardner – E-H Diouf, D Guthrie, K Nolan, I Campo, M Taylor – K Davies.
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Atl?tico Madrid (probable; 4-4-1-1): I Falc?n – A L Guerrero, P Ib?ñez, L Perea, M Pernia – J A Reyes, Maxi RodrÍguez, Cl?ber, Simão Sabrosa – D Forl?n, Mista.
Referee: P Rasmussen (Denmark).