La Liga: Atletico Struggle to Stay Sharp

Atletico Madrid vs Getafe CF

It’s been well documented that the holiday season makes everyone busier than during most parts of the year, and football is not an exception. Multiple teams in various top flights are experiencing a crammed December slate, and it’s doing more harm than good to the fatigued players and personnel.

Atletico Madrid, as good as they are, crumble due to their demanding schedule. They play four games across all competitions from December 10 to December 20, so one could expect a decline in form and output from the Atletico players.

Unfortunately for them, they’ll have to go against a budding Getafe squad that’s been flourishing in La Liga these past few weeks, winning three of their last five. So, the question is: Will Atletico have enough rest before they host Getafe, or will Getafe win their third straight match?

Talking Points

Atletico lost momentum due to a tight slate

Diego Simeone and his ragtag of assassins finished the group stages of the Champions League in convincing fashion by defeating Lazio with a 2-0 clean sheet victory. In doing so, they win Group E and proceed to the round of 16 with a boastful skip to their steps.

But like many teams competing in multiple tournaments, Atletico are showing signs of fatigue due to a stacked December schedule. Just a few days after their Matchday 6 win, Simeone and his team rally to San Mames to face off against a threatening Bilbao.

Atletico’s momentum garnered from their successful Champions League group stages has been put to waste as they hurriedly went to the frontlines of La Liga clashes, tired, sapped, and overworked. They lost to Bilbao in a humbling 2-0 clean sheet loss that halted them from overtaking Barcelona in the standings.

Simeone, like other managers facing the same problems, has a lot of roster rotations and load management to figure out. Fortunately, Simeone and the rest of his team have a couple of days to put their feet up before Getafe knock on their gates.

Getafe forced axing of Sevilla head coach

Getafe have been on a roll these past weeks, both in La Liga, where they’ve won three of their last five games, and in the Copa del Rey, where they defeated Atzeneta in the second round. Their most recent victory was a proper thrashing of Sevilla, defeating them 0-3 in front of Sevilla fans at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.

This would seem like just another regular matchday win for the Azulones, but what they didn’t know was that their demolition of Sevilla cost Diego Alonso his job.

Sevilla announced the dismissal of Diego Alonso as their head coach, just hours after their 0-3 defeat to Getafe. Talk about an ego boost for José Bordalás and his team.

The Azulones have been on an upward trajectory since the season began, and their dominant win against Sevilla has served as a reminder to every other team in the top flight that Bordalás’ system, paired with the brilliance of Borja Mayoral, makes Getafe a serious contender in La Liga.

History

Atletico Madrid have had a winning history against Getafe for the past 40 times they’ve shared the field. Atletico have won the majority of their head-to-heads with 26 wins and scored 67 total goals, while Getafe have only managed to win four times and were able to tally a draw 10 times.

The boys from Madrid have won 14 times in Civitas Metropolitano and 12 times in Coliseum Alfonso Perez, while Getafe have won two games in both stadiums.

In recent form, José Bordalás and his boys are playing tremendous football this season, especially compared to their last campaign, where they finished with just 42 league points. Currently, they’re in the favourable half of the league table as the eighth seed and are just four points away from overtaking Real Sociedad to qualify for the Conference League.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid are where we are accustomed to seeing them. They are once again one of the best teams in the Spanish top flight this season, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and the scorching Girona. They had a chance to overtake Barcelona in the third spot, but their 2-0 clean sheet defeat against Bilbao halted them from climbing the league standings.

Betting Tip

Despite conceding a 2-0 loss against Athletic Club, the SBOTOP La Liga 2023 odds still have Atletico Madrid as the heavy favourites to win this match. Atletico are fairly priced at 1.32, while the inspired Getafe are the underdogs at 8.20 and 4.45 to draw.

Personally, having the home team at 1.32 to win already holds enough value and would be a great line for punters to consider. I would want Atletico to be priced a little higher given that Getafe are currently making strides, having won two clean sheets in a row against Valencia and Sevilla prior to this match.

My betting tip would be goals over 2.5 at 1.93. This line is probably the best bang for your buck. The even line suggests that these teams would put up La Liga 2023 highlights and score a handful of goals. Atletico boasts one of the most potent offences in the Spanish top flight, and Getafe are holding their own with 21 goals after 17 games.

Not to mention that Atletico’s Antione Griezmann has been up to his usual stints, scoring nine goals, while Getafe’s Borja Mayoral proves he’s no pushover by scoring nine goals himself, tying Griezmann in the list of top goal scorers in La Liga this season at second place, only below Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham.

 

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