Atletico Madrid vs Girona
Atletico Madrid are halfway through the Champions League semi-finals after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the first leg of their quarter-finals tie last night. However, they don’t have much time to rest as they prepare for a big La Liga match against third-seeded Girona on Saturday.
With only a two-point lead over fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, whom they’ll face at the end of April in a crunch match, Atletico Madrid are in must-win mode because they cannot afford to miss out on the Champions League next season.
Meanwhile, Girona are not under pressure at this point because they’re no longer in contention for this season’s La Liga title. However, they also need to tack on a few more points to secure their first-ever top four finish this year.
Talking Points
Atletico Madrid will likely rotate their squad
The match against Girona on Saturday is Atletico Madrid’s second game in three days, so fatigue will be a factor for them.
After putting out their best starting XI available against Borussia Dortmund yesterday, Diego Simeone is likely to make changes. Saul, Angel Correa, Stefan Savic, Rodrigo Riquelme, and Pablo Barrios all came in as subs, and all of them can fight for a spot in the starting lineup.
With Memphis Depay facing a spell on the sidelines, Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann will likely lead up front once again because they’re banging in form, combining for 36 goals and nine assists in all competitions this season. But Los Rojiblancos can call on Angel Correa, with seven goals and two assists, to provide relief when needed.
If Diego Simeone somehow brings back their 5-3-2 formation, then Rodrigo Riquelme might get called up as one of their starting full-backs. The 24-year-old defender is one of the team’s best playmakers this season, with two goals and five assists.
Pablo Barrios and Saul are additional midfield options for Atletico Madrid, while Stefan Savic and Gabriel Paulista are a couple of reliable centre-backs who could start for them.
Girona will have fresh legs
In contrast, Girona should be well-rested coming into this weekend because they don’t have European matches to deal with, unlike Atletico Madrid. That should help them ease their growing injury list.
Savio, the team’s second-leading scorer with eight goals and seven assists, was sidelined against Real Betis due to injury, but he should be ready to create new La Liga 2024 highlights for the team once more.
Meanwhile, Cristhian Stuani, who scored the winning goal against Los Verdiblancos, is fighting for a spot in the starting XI. However, we might see him on the bench since there’s Portu and Viktor Tsyhankov on the wings.
Yangel Herrera should be back in the starting lineup, though, since Ivan Martin will have to serve his suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards. The former Manchester City man will get to team up with Aleix Garcia in the middle of the park.
History
The first La Liga meeting between Girona and Atletico Madrid happened in January, when the former edged the latter in a seven-goal thriller. Girona needed every goal from Valery Fernandez, Savio, Daley Blind, and Ivan Martin to overcome Alvaro Morata’s hat-trick.
That was Atletico Madrid’s first loss in a league game despite scoring three goals since a 4-3 defeat against Villarreal in January 2003.
Overall, Atletico Madrid have only won three of their last seven La Liga games against Girona (D3, L1), although they have scored in each of those meetings (12 goals).
Los Rojiblancos went on a 25-game undefeated run at the Civitas Metropolitano in La Liga between January 2023 and March 2024 (W23, D2). However, they lost their most recent home league game against Barcelona with a 3-0 scoreline.
Betting Tips
The La Liga 2024 odds have Atletico Madrid bouncing back against Girona this weekend. Los Rojiblancos are 2.04 favourites, while Girona are at 3.18 odds, and a draw is priced at 3.37 in the 1X2 market.
However, we believe that this is a tough call since these two teams are evenly matched on paper. Their reverse fixture yielded a bunch of goals, and we feel that both teams will put on yet another show for SBOTOP football fans on Saturday.
A Correct Score of 4-3 in favour of Girona – the score of their reverse fixture – has a whopping 175.00 offer, which makes it intriguing in itself.
Meanwhile, if you disagree with us and you feel that this is going to be a low-scoring affair, then check out alternative bets like Under 2.50 at 2.28, Total Goals 0-1 at 4.15, or even a Correct Score of 0-0 at 15.00.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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