Atletico Madrid face relegation-threatened Alaves on Sunday afternoon in their first league game of the new year.
Atletico Madrid (11 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, 38 points) should be in good spirits after beating Deportivo La Coruna last week to advance to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. But they still have work to do in La Liga. Atletico Madrid ranked fourth in the 20th round, ahead of Villarreal, Barcelona and Real Madrid. A win at the Estadio Metropolitano at the start of the second half of the season – Atletico have won 22 of their last 28 league games – would give Rojiblanco vital breathing space against fifth-place Espanyol who lost 2-0 to Girona on Friday.
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Alaves (5-4-10, 19 points) also entered Monday’s quarterfinal draw, but Chacho Kudai’s side find themselves at the other end of the table, with relegation already stranding nearly half of the division. The Basque side have won just one of their last eight league games and have scored just five goals in that time. Only Osasuna have suffered more away defeats than Chacho Kude’s side, who last won outside the comfort of Mendizorosa in September.
“They are a team with many top players, a strong squad, a great coach who has been with them for a long time and uses a different system. We have to adapt as quickly as possible to any situation we encounter,” Kudai told reporters on Saturday. “We’re not going to change the way we play, we want to stay on top.”
Team news
Diego Simeone is preparing to rest several key players ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Galatasaray in Istanbul. Koke, Julian Alvarez, Alex Baena and Marc Pubil are expected to start Sunday’s game from the bench, meaning the likes of Thiago Almada and Johnny Cardoso will get a chance to start, with Antoine Griezmann also getting a rare nod (in the league).
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Nico Gonzalez (hamstring strain) returned to training on Saturday but he was left out of the squad against Alaves, meaning his absence will last a month. Clement Lenglet (knee sprain) remains sidelined and is unlikely to return anytime soon. Simeone called up three Atletico Madrid players, Rayane Beled, Salvi Esquivel and Jarno Monserrate, for this game.
Atletico Madrid’s squad is in desperate need of reinforcements after the departures of Connor Gallagher and Giacomo Raspadori last week. Sporting director Mateu Alemany is reportedly working towards signing a midfielder and an attacking player to replace them, but with just two weeks until the winter transfer window closes, nothing seems that close yet.
maybe 11 Oblak; Molina, Jimenez, Hanko, Ruggieri; Johnny, Barrios, Almada, Giuliano; Griezmann, Soros.