Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is stressing the importance of being fully focused and prepared for the team's Champions League opener at Galatasaray on Tuesday.
The Spanish outfit have avoided the leading European clubs in the group stage of the competition, with Astana and Benfica also in Group C, but Simeone is not taking anything for granted heading into the encounter in Istanbul.
Atletico lost 3-2 at Olympiacos in last season's group opener but went on to top their group and reach the quarter-finals before being eliminated by rivals Real Madrid.
"We begin away from home and that is not good because the demands are higher," Simeone said to Marca.
"Last season, even though we had a manageable group, we struggled to progress because we lost our first game at home.
"We then had to win many games to recover in the group and finish first.
"I hope that experience can give us strength to learn from it and begin very strongly in Turkey, which will be no easy task.
"Then we will take on Benfica at home and that is an opponent that has a good chance of progressing. We need to be cautious in our first two games."
Atletico finished runners-up in the competition two years ago and have lost just one of their last six European group away games.
The Spanish outfit head into the midweek encounter on the back of Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Barcelona in La Liga. Atletico had kept a clean sheet in each of their opening two league games before the loss.
Turkish champions Galatasaray, playing in the group stages for the fourth consecutive year, are hoping to improve their home record.
They finished at the foot of the standings last season, losing two and drawing one of their three home games.
Galatasaray have endured a slow start to the Turkish Super Lig, winning just one of their opening five fixtures to lie 10th in the standings, five points adrift of league leaders Fenerbahce.
German forward Lukas Podolski, who scored the equaliser in Gala's 1-1 league draw with Mersin on Saturday, knows his team have to be at their best to beat Atletico.
"The Champions League is a different competition and we need to be very focused against Atletico," he said on the club's official website.
Podolski will play alongside Wesley Sneijder in support of lone striker Burak Yilmaz in attack.
Brazilian defender Filipe Luis, who started against Barca, has been left out of Atletico's travelling party for technical reasons.
Atletico's summer signing Jackson Martinez could start, with the Colombian striker coming on as a second-half substitute at the weekend.
Martinez scored seven goals in eight Champions League appearances for Porto last season.
Source: PA-WIRE
