Levante vs Atletico Madrid

Relegation-threatened Levante will be desperate to find their feet when they take on underperforming La Liga champions Atletico Madrid at the Estadi Ciutat de València.

The pressure continues to mount on under-fire boss Javier Pereira as Levante head into this matchday winless in all ten La Liga games this season (D5, L5), including a 5-3 thrashing at the hands of Sevilla at the weekend. With his side deep inside the relegation zone, Pereira can ill-afford another underwhelming result, though beating a side they’ve failed to defeat in all four previous top-flight H2Hs as hosts will be challenging (D2, L2). But after claiming an unexpected 2-0 win in Madrid back in February, Levante could rack up back-to-back La Liga victories over Atletico for the first time in the club’s history. That could be easier said than done, considering they’ve won none of their last 18 top-flight fixtures (D8, L10), their longest-ever winless run in the competition.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid showed the character to come from a 2-0 down and hold current pacesetters Real Sociedad to a 2-2 home draw at the weekend. The visitors’ bounce-back ability coincides with their eye-catching second-half displays, as five of their six away league goals scored this term arrived beyond half-time. However, a lack of consistency has seen none of Atletico’s last eight La Liga fixtures produce the same result as the previous one (W4, D3, L1), with just one of those matches featuring a full-time margin of 2+ goals. A dismal 1-0 defeat to Deportivo Alaves in their most recent La Liga trip halted Atletico’s six-game unbeaten league streak away from home (W5, D1). ‘Los Rojilbancos’ now stare at the risk of losing back-to-back top-flight games on the road for the first time since February 2020.