Atletico Madrid vs Valencia

Atletico Madrid and Valencia are set to lock horns in an exciting La Liga encounter at the Metropolitano Stadium.

Atletico Madrid followed up a narrow 1-0 away league win against relegation-battling Granada with an identical Copa del Rey quarter-final triumph against Sevilla earlier this week, extending their winning streak in all competitions to three matches. Seeking back-to-back La Liga victories for the first time in 2024, ‘Los Colchoneros’ will be out to avenge an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture and protect their incredible 14-game unbeaten run against Valencia in the Spanish capital (W10, D4). Long-serving manager Diego Simeone will expect nothing less after his charges picked up 28 out of the 30 available points at the Metropolitano Stadium this season (W9, D1). But with two of their last three home league wins yielding a narrow 1-0 scoreline, there could be plenty of drama in this contest.

As for Valencia, a hard-fought 1-0 home triumph against Atletico’s top-four rivals Athletic Bilbao last time out stretched their formidable winning streak in La Liga to four games, lifting them within striking distance of the European spots. With only three points separating ‘Los Che’ and sixth-placed Real Sociedad at the start of this round, manager Ruben Baraja will be looking to become the first Valencia manager to beat Atletico in Madrid since Unai Emery in 2011. To achieve that, the visitors must find a recipe to fend off Atletico’s free-scoring frontline, considering they’ve conceded precisely three goals in their last three top-flight H2Hs in the capital (L3). Back-to-back away league wins on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Getafe in early December ought to improve Valencia’s spirits ahead of this daunting trip.