Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan insists his side need to keep their European destiny in their own hands as they prepare to host Porto.

With their dreams of getting through to the last 16 of the Champions League long since ended, Atletico go into their final Group D match against already-qualified Porto with only a spot in the Europa League to play for.

The Rojiblancos currently hold the upper hand in the two-horse race for third place, lying one point ahead of APOEL Nicosia, who face a daunting trip to group winners Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Atletico also boast the better head-to-head record against APOEL having followed up their goalless home draw against Ivan Jovanovic's side with a 1-1 draw in Cyprus.

Even though the odds favour the Spaniards, Forlan is determined to see his side decide their own fate by beating Porto at the Vicente Calderon and not wait for a helping hand from Chelsea.

"Winning is necessary to qualify for the Europa League and not depend on what Chelsea and APOEL do in London," said the former Manchester United striker.

Defender Juanito echoed those thoughts, saying: "We can't look at what happens in the Chelsea-APOEL match because we depend on ourselves.

"The easiest way to qualify is to earn the victory and that's what we're going to try to do.

"Porto have a great team and even if they don't play their best X1 they have a dependable squad and we have to come out as hard as we can if we want to win."

Atletico have endured a miserable start to the season both domestically and in Europe, but they finally look to be moving in the right direction.

In their last five games in all competitions, Quique Sanchez Flores' team have beaten Marbella, Espanyol and Xerez by a combined 12-0 scoreline, drawn away to APOEL and only lost to high-flying Deportivo La Coruna after conceding a controversial injury-time penalty.

Saturday's 2-0 away win at Xerez lifted Atletico up to 13th in the Primera Division standings and Forlan, who struck the opening goal, believes it was just the result they needed ahead of their clash with Porto.

"We needed to win, we played well and we earned the three points. It was important to get the victory to earn points to get away from the bottom of the table. We didn't want to be down there and we had to play well to make a comeback," he said.

Sanchez Flores has named defender Alvaro Dominguez, who was sent-off against Xerez, in his squad, but Tomas Ujfalusi, Raul Garcia, Roberto and Florent Sinama Pongolle are absent.

Porto make the short hop across to the Spanish capital with nothing at stake, having already secured a top-two finish in Group C and with no chance of overhauling leaders Chelsea.

The Portuguese champions can inflict more misery on Athletic though, having beaten them 2-0 at home in September and also having dumped them out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage last season.

Coach Jesualdo Ferreira has forward Mariano Gonzalez available again after suspension, while defender Miguel Lopes is back in the fold after recovering from a thigh injury that has kept him out since September.