Atlético seeks new energies before the revelation
MADRID, 1 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid will try to start the new year leaving behind the bad run of results with which it closed its great 2021 and braking this Sunday (4.15 pm) at the Wanda Metropolitano to the revelation of the season, a Rayo Vallecano who defends his position Champions League and hit these days by the coronavirus, in a match corresponding to the nineteenth round of the championship.
The rojiblanco team was a great protagonist in national football in 2021 with the conquest of the league title, but the new campaign has not brought its best feelings and it has been extremely difficult to defend its throne after a year-end that was not nothing good and that evidenced his current game crisis and results.
The colchoneros have not won in the league for more than two months, when they beat Cádiz 1-4. Since then, four consecutive defeats against Mallorca (1-2), Real Madrid (2-0), Sevilla (2-1) and Granada (2-1), the latter three in the three consecutive outings with the which ended in 2021.
This bad dynamic has already taken him 17 points away from Real Madrid, with one game less, and outside a ‘Champions zone’ to which he wants to return adding three points that allow him to overcome precisely a Rayo who is surprising with his daring game and without complexes, and that he arrives at the Metropolitan with an advantage point that he will not let go of without resisting.
Like the rest of the LaLiga Santander teams, none have escaped the coronavirus outbreaks in their dressing rooms, something ‘less’ in the case of Atlético de Madrid, which lost three key players such as captain Koke for this important duel and the forwards Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix, in addition to the Mexican Héctor Herrera. Diego Pablo Simeone, who has just turned ten years after his arrival on the bench, is awaiting a second negative.
These absences are joined by Marcos Llorente and Stefan Savic due to injury, while, on the contrary, José María Giménez will be available, good news in order to recover a defensive solidity that does not appear in this campaign. Jan Oblak has already conceded 22 goals, three less than in the title season, and the team has only been able to score zero in five league games, which complicates things because it is also difficult for him to see the goal.
In this sense, the losses of Griezmann and Joao Felix will cause Luis Suárez to have a chance up front again. The Brazilian Cunha continues to press in search of a place in the eleven, but the ‘Cholo’ maintains for the moment his faith in the Salto, immersed in a bad scoring streak when last season was vital. Ángel Correa should be your companion.
In midfield, Kondogbia is emerging as Koke’s substitute to play alongside De Paul, with Lemar and Carrasco on the flanks, as long as Simeone decides to play with a defense of four, where Lodi would be the left back with Giménez, Hermoso and Trippier.
THE LIGHTNING, LESS FIRM AT HOME AND WHIPPED BY THE CORONAVIRUS
In front, a Rayo Vallecano who said goodbye to 2021 with a smile. The franjirrojo team not only managed to return to the First Division but are shining in this first round, which in addition to practically leaving them very close to fulfilling the first objective of certifying permanence, has placed them in an unexpected fourth place and at the moment fighting for more ambitious goals.
Andoni Iraola has made it clear that his team is not going to wrinkle in any stadium or against any rival and that courage is giving him good returns, especially when he plays in Vallecas, because at home he has only added in three of his nine outings, with victory only in San Mamés for more than three months. Since then, in his five away games, only one point, at Mestalla, a bad statistic that is added to the fact that he has lost in his last seven visits to Atlético, which he has not won since August 1999.
The Gipuzkoan coach has also had to deal with the coronavirus, which affected 17 members of the dressing room, including him, although the outlook seems to have improved somewhat more in recent hours. Thus, it seems that goalkeeper Dimitrievski and captain Trejo could be available, while, on the contrary, Catena, Bebe and Falcao were not, so the ‘Tigre’ would miss his return to a hobby that idolizes him. In addition, there is the loss due to injury to Álvaro García.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
ATLÉTICO DE MADRID: Oblak; Trippier, Giménez, Hermoso, Lodi; Lemar, Kondogbia, De Paul, Carrasco; Correa and Luis Suárez.
RAYO VALLECANO: Zidane; Balliu, Saveljich, Maras, Fran García; Valentín, Comesaña, Unai López; Isi, Guardiola and Kevin.
– REFEREE: Figuero Vázquez (C. Andalusz).
–STADIUM: Wanda Metropolitano.
–TIME: 16.15 / Movistar LaLiga.