La Liga: Atletico Can Win Their First Madrid Derby

Getafe vs Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid launch their 2022/23 La Liga title campaign with a trip to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Sunday to face Quique’s Getafe. 

It’s a Madrid derby in which Los Rojiblancos are strong favourites. Los Azulones finished 15^th in La Liga last term and are likely to hover between halfway and the drop zone again this season, but that will not stop a capacity 17,000 crowd from giving Atleti a hostile  welcome and their own team a boost.

Diego Simeone will have his team primed for a tough opening and they come into the game in good shape.

Talking Points

Atleti’s near perfect pre-season

While the La Liga 2022 betting odds reckon this season’s title race will be fought out between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Atleti fans will be determined their team can gatecrash the El Clasico party.

And they have plenty of reason to be optimistic after watching their side reel off four successive victories in pre-season, including a classic Diego Simeone performance in 1-0 win over Manchester United and a 4-0 drubbing of Juventus in their last outing.

Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick in the victory over I Bianconeri and the 29-year-old has made a good case for a starting place.

Atleti’s performance against the Italian giants was pretty much faultless as they conceded the majority of possession but won the shot count by 10 to four and seven to one on target.

Simeone can be pleased with his pre-campaign work.

One player we expect to produce plenty of La Liga 2022 highlights is Portuguese forward Joao Felix. Since his big money transfer from Benfica, he has struggled to reach his full potential. But last season was his best so far and, if he stays fit, this could be his year.    

The suggestion that Cristiano Ronaldo might possibly be on the way to the Wanda Metropolitano has angered a section of Los Rojiblancos’ fans.

And when you look at their star-studded team, including Felix, Morata, Koke, Rodrigo De Paul, Renan Lodi, and Jose Gimenez, you can see why they don’t think the need the 37-year-old former Real star.       

Getafe still need to strengthen  

While Atleti have been firing on all cylinders in pre-season, we can almost say the opposite for Getafe who, following a 2-1 win over Championship club Preston North End, have played out two draws and suffered three defeats without really facing a big name club. They did suffer a morale-sapping defeat to fierce local rivals Leganes, who currently ply their trade in the Segunda Division.     

Former Leeds United keeper Kiko Casilla has returned to Spain and signed for Getafe. The 35-year-old spent last season on loan at Elche where he made 16 appearances, and he will add a lot of experience to the squad.

And Los Azulones have made permanent the signing of striker Borja Mayoral to play alongside the dangerous Enes Unal. Quique may be set to raid Real Madrid again, with his eyes on 22-year-old midfield star Antonio Blanco.        

History

Pre-season form certainly favours Diego Simeone’s men and there isn’t a lot of comfort for Getafe fans in terms of head-to-head meetings. Los Rojiblancos have won 26 of the 39 meetings since 2001, drawing nine and conceding just four losses to Getafe.

Last season, Atleti did the double, winning 4-3 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in February after eking out a 2-1 win on Getafe’s home turf earlier in the campaign. The underdogs were kicking themselves after throwing away a 1-0 lead, gifted to them by Atleti keeper Jan Oblak late in the game.

It all seemed to be plain sailing. But when midfield enforcer Carles Alena was sent off on 74 minutes, the balance of the game changed and Luis Suarez made the hosts pay.

The Uruguayan hit man levelled the scores on 78 minutes before snatching an injury-time winner to break the home fans hearts, while Atletico continued their unbeaten start to the 2021/22 campaign.    

Betting Tip

The pre-match SBOTOP odds are pointing to an away win and I have faith in Los Rojiblancos to get off to a winning start. But Getafe fans will rightly have high hopes of their own side to earn a result.

At odds of 3-01 to draw and 4.07 to win, it would not be a shock of major proportions for Getafe to spoil Atleti’s opener, and home fans might fancy an option of either the double chance, Getafe Draw at 1.76 or Getafe +0.50 at a price of 1.96.    

 

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