Sevilla-Atlético Madrid: Second hosts fourth in vital LaLiga clash

The wobbly, beat-up Atlético Madrid prepare rolls into the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Saturday evening for a battle with LaLiga title hopefuls Sevilla.

Reigning champions Atlético (8-5-3, 29 factors) noticed its hopes of retaining LaLiga more-or-less dashed totally after dropping the Madrid Derby final Sunday. Sevilla (10-4-2, 34 factors) are Real Madrid’s nearest challengers, and Julen Lopetegui’s males will dare to dream a few first league crown since 1946 if they will pull one over on Atlético this weekend. The Andalusian facet won’t have Champions League soccer to fret about both, following relegation to the Europa League earlier this month.

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Diego Simeone must make do with out Antoine Griezmann, who exited the Santiago Bernabéu with a Dani Carvajal-inflicted harm and can miss a minimum of a pair video games. The scenario on the again additionally stays dire, with José Giménez and Stefan Savić anticipated to overlook out once more — which would require central midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia to step into central protection for the third consecutive fixture.

Cholo is more likely to deploy a compact 5-4-1 formation to maintain possession-dominant Sevilla at bay, that means extensive midfield roles for Ángel Correa and Thomas Lemar if they begin. Luis Suárez — who has 11 profession objectives in opposition to Sevilla — appears the favourite to start out because the lone center-forward, conserving João Félix on the bench for a 3rd straight match.

Lopetegui’s facet additionally must discover options with a number of key gamers out till 2022. Captain and influential playmaker Jesús Navas is unavailable with a muscle drawback, whereas Suso (ankle harm) and key summer time signing Érik Lamela (shoulder) are out, too. Midfielder Fernando is suspended because of yellow card accumulation.

This story can be up to date with Simeone’s pre-game quotes and the squad listing.

Date Dec. 18, 2021

Location Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Andalucía

Kickoff time 9:00 p.m. CET, 8:00 p.m. GMT, 3:00 p.m. EST, 12:00 p.m. PST

Available TV/streaming ESPN+ (United States), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), LaLiga TV (United Kingdom)