Atletico Madrid – Osasuna

Atletico Madrid hosts Osasuna at the Wanda Metropolitano in a game from the 17th round of La Liga.

Atletico Madrid are in a serious need of improving their performance in the league. In their last five matches in La Liga Los Colchoneros won just once – against Espanyol. Since this win, Atletico have won just two points in their last three matches. This is the main reason why Diego Simeone’s team is currently 7th in the league with 26 points, but just one point behind Real Sociedad and the Top 4.

During the week Atletico secured their place in the Champions League eliminations. Simeone’s boys didn’t make a mistake against Lokomotiv Moscow at the Wanda and won with 2-0. Joao Felix opened the score from a penalty kick while Felipe added one more goal after the halftime break.

Diego Costa remains sidelined for Atletico Madrid, while Stefan Savic and Sime Vrsaljko are also injured and still recovering. These players are not avaliable for selection by the manager.

Osasuna are newcomers in La Liga, but so far they are doing a good job since their return to the league. At this moment the Pamploners are 10th in the standings with 23 points, being 10 points away of the relegation zone. This is exactly the type of performance Osasuna wished to have before the start of the campaign.

In the previous round Osasuna scored their 8th draw in the league. Alongside Atletico Madrid, they are the team with the most draws in La Liga this season. Arrasate’s team hosted Sevilla and fought for a point with a 1-1 draw. Munir opened for the visitors, but Ezequiel Avila equalised for the hosts.

In this game Osasuna’s defender Oier was sent off, so he will be suspended for the match against Atletico on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid need to return to winning as soon as possible, but they will have a tough opponent on Saturday. They need to be focuces because Osasuna are a hard team to beat.