Atletico Madrid will attempt to strengthen their grip on third position in La Liga when they make the trip to seriously out-of-form Villarreal on Wednesday evening.
Atletico are now unbeaten in their last 10 in the league, but Villarreal have not recorded a win in any competition for nine matches.
Villarreal
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In February, Villarreal were being picked out as one of the most impressive teams in Spain. At that point, Marcelino's side were closing on the top four in La Liga, in addition to making the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and last-16 stage of the Europa League. It has gone horribly wrong over the last couple of months, however, with elimination from both cup competitions coupled with a horrid run of results in Spain's top flight.
In fact, Villarreal have not recorded a single win in any competition since beating Celta Vigo 4-1 on March 8. Since then, they have lost four and drawn five of their nine games, with that run of form seeing them drop out of the race for the top four - allowing Sevilla and Valencia to move clear. The Yellow Submarine are still sixth in the table, but that is due to a lack of consistency from the teams below them.
Villarreal have drawn their last three in the league - including back-to-back stalemates against Cordoba and Real Sociedad. What's more, they have scored just one goal in their last seven league games, which is a far cry from their form in the early part of the campaign. Injuries have played a major part, but they look completely shot of any form of confidence with just five games of the season remaining.
In truth, only an incredible turnaround would stop Villarreal finishing sixth this season, with Malaga six points behind in seventh position. The Yellow Submarine must face Malaga, Celta Vigo and Athletic Bilbao before the end of the season, however, and therefore it is not quite done and dusted. Last season, Villarreal finished sixth on 59 points and it does appear that it will be a similar campaign this time around.
In general, their home form in the league has been strong - winning 10 of their 16 games. However, they have picked up just four wins on the road, which has been their Achilles heel this season. Defensively, they have been pretty strong, conceding just 30 times, - which is the same number as Real Madrid and just four more than Atletico Madrid - but they have found the back of the net on just 44 occasions.
Recent form: LDLDDD
Atletico Madrid
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Last season, Atletico picked up their first La Liga title since the 1995-96 campaign, in addition to reaching the final of the Champions League. A busy summer saw key players lost and a number of signings made, but Diego Simeone's side have been unable to launch another title assault this season. As it stands, the capital outfit are third in the table on 72 points - seven behind second-placed Real Madrid and nine behind the leaders Barcelona.
A wobble towards the end of February and start of March, which saw Simeone's side team win just once in five league games, aided suggestions that the champions could miss out on the top four. However, a run of 10 league games without defeat has seen the club take charge of third position. As it stands, they are seven points clear of fifth-placed Valencia and only a stunning turnaround would see Atletico miss out on a top-three finish.
The capital outfit will enter the match off the back of a comfortable 3-0 win over Elche at the weekend, which saw Antoine Griezmann score his third league brace in a row - taking his tally to 22 league goals for the season. There was huge disappointment last week, however, with Real Madrid emerging from their Champions League quarter-final courtesy of an 88th-minute winner from Javier Hernandez. Atletico were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Barcelona and will finish the season trophiless, except for the Spanish Super Cup that arrived at the start of the campaign.
Atletico have once again been very strong on home turf this season - winning 14 of their 17 league games and losing just once. However, they have dropped points in eight of their 16 away games this term, which has seen them fail to match Barcelona and Real Madrid. Their defensive record is also only the third-best at this stage, with both Barcelona and Valencia conceding fewer. In the goals department, Atletico have also hit 35 fewer than Real Madrid.
Moving forward, however, there are good signs. Simeone has recently signed a new long-term deal with the Madrid side and it is understood that money is available to spend this summer. It will once again be difficult to match Barcelona and Real Madrid next season, but the fighting spirit that Simeone has installed will make them challengers at both home and abroad.
Recent form: WWWDWW
Recent form (all competitions): WDDWLW
Team News
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Villarreal's injury list at this stage of the season is quite extraordinary, with Marcelino having to contend without a number of his key players. Mateo Musacchio is out for the season, while key midfielder Bruno, who is also club captain, has not featured this year.
Luciano Vietto, Giovani dos Santos, Denis Cheryshev and Ikechukwku Uche are all also still on the sidelines for the Yellow Submarine, leaving Marcelino with very few options for change.
Moi Gomez could return to the starting XI after starting the Sociedad clash on the bench, but Marcelino is expected to resist the temptation to throw in a number of youngsters as the sixth-placed side attempt to end their poor run of form.
Atletico, meanwhile, who will have manager Simeone back on the sidelines following a one-game ban, are expected to ring the changes. Mario Suarez is still injured, but Arda Turan, Miranda, Mario Mandzukic and Juanfran should also return to the starting XI.
Jose Gimenez, Fernando Torres and Guilherme Siqueira are all expected to drop to the bench, although the latter could miss out altogether after picking up an injury against Elche.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Mario, Jokic, Ruiz, Costa; Jonathan, Pina, Trigueros, Campbell; Gomez; Moreno
Atletico possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Gamez; Koke, Tiago, Gabi; Griezmann, Mandzukic, Turan
Head To Head
Recent meetings suggest that there will not be too many goals at El Madrigal. In the last four matches between the two teams, there have been just five goals, with Atletico winning twice, Villarreal winning once and the further clash ending in a 1-1 draw.
The two teams have, of course, already met in the league this season and Villarreal became the first – and up until this point, the only – team to win at the Vicente Calderon in the league this season. Vietto's effort late on saw Atletico fall seven points off the top of the table back in December.
The points were shared in the corresponding league fixture last season, with Villarreal coming from a goal behind to level. However, Atletico did win at El Madrigal in the league in the 2011-12 season – courtesy of a late goal from a certain Radamel Falcao.
We say: Villarreal 1-2 Atletico
Earlier in the season, a score draw would have been the smart prediction for this match, but Villarreal are on such a poor run of form at the moment, while Atletico are finding ways to win matches, even when they are not at their best.
Both teams at full strength would make it a very tough one to call, but Villarreal's injury problems should allow Atletico to claim all three points.
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