Atletico Madrid vs Espanyol

The Metropolitano Stadium is the venue as La Liga title hopefuls Atletico Madrid take on newly-promoted Espanyol in contrasting circumstances.

Atletico Madrid’s quest for redemption following a fourth-place finish in 2023/24 has been off to a decent start. Keen to make amends for their lowest La Liga final placing since 2011/12, Diego Simeone’s side thrashed Girona 3-0 at the weekend on home debuts for Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher to put a 2-2 draw at Villarreal behind. Unbeaten in the first two matches, Los Merengues seek a repeat of a memorable 7-0 day-three win over Rayo Vallecano 12 months ago, albeit they play at home this time. Rebuilding a home fortress of the Metropolitano Stadium tops Simeone’s bucket list after Atletico Madrid suffered two defeats in their final five home league outings last term (W2). That unenviable stretch followed a formidable 25-match undefeated streak in home league fixtures (W23, D2).

In the meantime, visiting Espanyol head into proceedings as the only La Liga side yet to get on the scoresheet this season. Manolo Gonzalez’s side secured top-flight promotion last season via playoffs. Yet they’ve stuttered on their La Liga return, recording a pair of identical 1-0 defeats to Real Sociedad and Real Valladolid in the opening two rounds. It’s been over four years since Espanyol last suffered three consecutive league losses ‘to nil,’ most recently enduring that unwanted feat in July 2020. However, Espanyol’s humiliating record in away league clashes against Atletico Madrid (W8, D18, L62) suggests another disappointing result could be around the corner. On a more positive note, Los Periquitos have avoided defeat in four of their last seven league H2Hs at any venue (W1, D3, L3).