Atletico Madrid vs Valencia

Metropolitano Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering La Liga clash between top-four hopefuls Atletico Madrid and relegation-fighting Valencia.

Atletico Madrid’s stellar run of form continued last weekend with a last-gasp 1-0 win at Girona, making it nine consecutive La Liga matches without losing (W6, D3). But with four of their last five league victories yielding an identical 1-0 scoreline, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ continue to jungle fans’ nerves despite moving six points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis in third. Barring a miraculous turn of events, Atletico should maintain their outrageous La Liga form, given that they’re unbeaten in their last 16 top-flight encounters against Valencia (W10, D6), including a narrow 1-0 triumph in the reverse fixture in August. Moreover, Diego Simeone’s men have avoided defeat in their last 11 league meetings with Valencia on home turf (W7, D4), winning the most recent two in a row by an aggregate score of 6-3.

On the other hand, new Valencia boss Ruben Baraja has led his side to a pair of 1-0 wins over Real Sociedad and Osasuna while going down to Barcelona by that same scoreline on his touchline debut away from home. However, Valencia’s slight upturn in form under their new manager has helped them steer outside the bottom three, although they begin this round level on points with 18th-placed Getafe. Baraja’s next assignment is to galvanize Valencia’s embarrassing away form, as they’ve lost their last six La Liga games on the road, including all five in 2023 without finding the back of the net. Worryingly for the visitors, they’ve gone winless in each of their last 18 away games against Madrid-based sides in La Liga (D4, L14).