Numancia vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio Municipal de El Burgo de Osma is the venue as Numancia and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head in an all-Spanish pre-season friendly.

Lagging behind in pre-season preparations, third-tier Numancia launch their off-season campaign against a side they have lost to in all seven previous meetings. Numancia capped off last league season with a whimper, losing both final third-tier fixtures by an aggregate score of 4-1 while conceding on either side of halftime on each occasion. Despite a dismal scoring return of late, ‘Los Numantinos’ can draw confidence from netting 2+ goals in six outings beforehand (W6). It is also worth noting that they kept three clean sheets during that six-game sequence, highlighting the potential to keep things tight at the back.

In the meantime, Atletico Madrid experienced an awful defending La Liga campaign last season, as they finished third in the standings, 15 points adrift of newly-crowned champions Real Madrid. On the bright side, Diego Simeone’s side rounded off the 2021/22 campaign on a high, going unbeaten in four consecutive league games (W3, D1) despite netting a measly average of 1.5 goals per match. An uneventful recruitment campaign this summer has seen ‘Los Rojiblancos’ sign Axel Witsel on a free transfer as their marquee summer acquisition, with standout striker Luis Suarez leaving the club on a free transfer. That shouldn’t influence the fact they’ve scored 2+ goals in three of their last four encounters against Numancia, 90mins only.