Atletico Madrid – Espanyol

Atletico Madrid faces Espanyol at the Wanda Metropolitano in a match from the 13th round of La Liga. That’s a good moment to take a look at this fixture.

Atletico Madrid are currently fourth in La Liga’s standings, but the reality is that they are just one point behind the leader Barcelona. Cholo Simeone’s team is not as consistent as it should be, but Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s many mistakes from the beginning of the campaign allowed Atletico to remain close to the top.

Being unable to win is Los Colchoneros’ biggest problem now – in their last five games in La Liga, Atletico won just once and made four draws. This is not how you become a champion. In the previoous round Atleti had a tough game against Sevilla in Andalusia and won a point after a 1-1 draw. Alvaro Morata scored the visitors’ only goal in the game. During the week Atletico visited Germany to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, but conceded a 1-2 loss.

The young Portuguese star Joao Felix remains injured for Atletico Madrid, while Stefan Savic and Jose Gimenez are also not avaliable for selection.

For Espanyol this season looks really problematic so far. Los Pericos are in the relegation zone of the league, being 19th with just 8 points won so far. They have only two wins from 12 games played so far. In the previous round Espanyol hosted Valencia at home, but suffered a 1-2 loss.

During the week Espanyol brought some joy to their fans, though. The Catalans hosted Bulgarian side Ludogorets in Europa League, achieving a stunning 6-0 win. Of course, we should mention that Ludogorets got two players sent off after just 34 minutes of playing. Melendo, Lluis Lopez, Matias Vargas, Victor Campuzano, Adria Pedrosa and Facundo Ferreyra scored for the hosts.

Atletico Madrid are aware that they must start winning on a regular basis if they want to challenge for the title. Los Colchoneros can’t allow themselves to make mistakes against struggling teams like Espanyol, especially at the Wanda Metropolitano.