Atletico needs Martinez to end drought against Astana
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Now is the time for Jackson Martinez to recover his scoring touch.
Atletico Madrid hosts Kazakh club Astana on Wednesday in the Champions League, giving Martinez an opportunity to show what he can do since his move from FC Porto.
Atletico needs a victory to stay in contention for the Group C lead after its home loss to Benfica gave the Portuguese side first place.
"We won in Turkey, but it wasn't our plan to lose here at home against Benfica," Atletico striker Fernando Torres said. "We are at that point now to know that we need six points in our next two matches. That's clear, and then we will play again against Benfica and Galatasaray to determine first place."
In the other group match, Benfica travels to Galatasaray to play against a Turkish team that has taken just one point from the first two matches and sits last alongside Astana.
Here are some things to know about Wednesday's matches:
___
WAITING FOR GOALS
Martinez scored a combined 81 goals in the Portuguese league and the Champions League during three seasons at Porto.
His move to Spain was widely seen as an upgrade from the departing Mario Mandzukic and sparked talk that Atletico could field an attack potent enough to rekindle another outsider run at the league title it won in 2014, the same year it also reached the Champions League final.
But Martinez has yet to click with his new team and has netted only one goal in 10 appearances. Torres hasn't done much better with two goals in 10 matches, leaving Antoine Griezmann to hold up the front line.
Griezmann has scored six goals this season, including a brilliant solo run to open Atletico's 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Despite his mantra of going ahead "game by game," Atletico coach Diego Simeone will likely deploy a starting lineup keeping in mind Sunday's visit by Spanish league rival Valencia.
___
OUT OF SORTS
While Astana may have earned its first Champions League point with a draw against Galatasaray, its recent form has been patchy.
Wins in its last two Kazakh league matches ended a five-game winless run for Astana, though neither of the recent performances was particularly impressive as Astana scraped one-goal wins over lower-ranked opposition.
The Champions League's first Kazakh club has a fight on its hands to retain its domestic league title, sitting five points behind league leader Kairat Almaty with four games to play. To add to the pressure, Astana's lengthy trip from Central Asia to Madrid is followed Sunday by a make-or-break game against Kairat.
___
LONG TIME, NO WIN
Galatasaray, which claimed both the Turkish league and cup last season, is in dire need of breaking a winless streak in Europe.
Galatasaray hasn't won in 10 consecutive matches against continental opponents. This season it started its Champions League campaign with a 2-0 home defeat to Atletico before the humbling draw at Astana.
Two-time champion Benfica has its own bit of history to go against: the reigning Portuguese champions haven't won in four visits to Turkey.