Shanghai SIPG vs. Atletico Madrid: Team News, Preview, Live Stream & TV Info
As La Liga draws closer to the start of the 2015-16 season in Spain, the biggest clubs look to have all but completed the majority of their transfer activity, and pre-season preparations are well underway.
Atletico Madrid are in Asia as part of their summer tour and face Shanghai SIPG on Tuesday, their final game abroad before returning to Spain later in the week to conclude preparations for the new campaign.
Diego Simeone and his men defeated Sagan Tosu on penalties at the weekend and now face a tougher challenge against the current Chinese Super League leaders. Shanghai SIPG are led by Sven-Goran Eriksson and should be in good shape, being midseason, meaning Atleti will have to step up in their style and fluidity as well as in fitness to claim a positive result.
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Date: Tuesday, August 4
Time: 12 p.m. BST (7 a.m. ET)
Venue: Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
TV Info: Canal+ Liga (ESP), beIN Sports Connect (USA)
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect (USA)
The Teams
Atletico Madrid's busy summer has seen the likes of Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco come into the squad, while Filipe Luis has returned also after a year at Chelsea. Mario Suarez, Miranda and Toby Alderweireld have all departed the Vicente Calderon as well as key attackers Mario Mandzukic and Arda Turan, and there could yet be one or two further exits.
Pre-season has gone fairly well for the Spanish club so far, beating lower league Spanish opposition Numancia and Real Oviedo in their openers before the shootout win over Sagan Tosu at the start of this tour. They will also face Real Sociedad at home next weekend before the season kicks off properly.
A somewhat more youthful-looking squad overall gives manager Diego Simeone the potential to mix thing up this season, keeping the aggressive, hard-working core that is Atleti's battle standard but also including more technique to go with that tenacity at times.
It's an intriguing and exciting mix of players, and the few pre-season games to this point have indicated that they will once again be a team well worth watching and fully capable of challenging for honours. Simeone, per Marca, said he was "happy because the team growing. They connected very well in attack" against Sagan Tosu, and he mentioned he "had the intention of changing the system and creating alternatives to face what is to come this year."
As for their opponents, Shanghai SIPG have a fairly typical CSL look about their squad: mostly home-based nationals with a smattering of global names on big money.
Dario Conca is a standout name; the Argentinian playmaker was, for a time, one of the world's most highly paid players when he initially joined Guangzhou Evergrande back in 2011. Less than a month ago, Shanghai SIPG added Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan to their squad on a two-year deal. Swedish forward Tobias Hysen is their top scorer this season with 11 goals and finished last term as the third-highest CSL scorer.
A fifth-place finish in 2014 represented a best-ever season for Shanghai SIPG, but as they currently sit top of the table after 21 games—the season is 30 matches long—they will be hoping to go significantly better this term.
Team News
As they are midway through their season, Shanghai SIPG have no particular need to select a side based on getting fitness work in, and it can be expected that they might start a very strong XI to give Atletico Madrid a big test, with some of the squad featuring later on as substitute.
Eriksson has been typically utilising a 4-2-3-1 for his side, with Conca as the No. 10 and Gyan coming into the team as the main striker. Hysen has not been involved for the past month since a 2-0 win against Shanghai Shenxin.
Simeone began the summer using his usual 4-4-2 system, and it can be expected that it remains Atleti's base system for the season despite a switch to 4-3-3 against Sagan Tosu—another alternative for the manager when he comes up against problematic teams in La Liga this term. The lineup will doubtless be altered once again to ensure all his main players continue to get minutes of action ahead of the new season.
Possible Starting Lineups
Shanghai SIPG (4-2-3-1): Yan Junling; Fu Huan, Joo-young Kim, Shi Ke, Wang Shenchao; Yu Hai, Cai Huikang; Wu Lei, Dario Conca, Lu Wenjun; Asamoah Gyan.
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Juanfran, Josema Gimenez, Diego Godin, Guilherme Siqueira; Saul, Koke, Tiago, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco; Fernando Torres, Angel Correa.
Players to Watch
Shanghai SIPG: Asamoah Gyan
Gyan is a well-known star on the international stage after his exploits with Ghana at the 2010 World Cup in particular but has also remained a regular goalscorer at club level since leaving Europe. After a short time with Sunderland in the Premier League, Gyan headed to Abu Dhabi to join Al Ain. He spent four years with the club, scoring over 100 goals in that time.
Only a month ago, he opted for a new venture and moved to the Chinese Super League with SIPG, and he's had an immediate impact, as he came off the bench for his debut to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory over Tianjin Teda. Gyan has started twice more since then, scoring once in his last outing to keep his side top of the table.
Rarely have there been any question marks over Gyan's ability in front of goal, rather only in other aspects of his approach to the sport, and he will certainly give Atletico's back line a big test.
Atletico Madrid: Koke
Now established as Atleti's main man in the centre of the pitch for the coming season, the excellent and irrepressible Koke needs to continue his own evolution, dominating matches and showing both the offensive and defensive sides of his game to steer the side towards success.
The control and appreciation of space in the role will stem from this period in pre-season, not that he hasn't played there before of course—he's already one of the first picks for the Spanish national team in the centre—but playing for his club is a different dynamic.
Koke will continue to grow into the role, but his special talent can take Atletico up a notch this season—and it doesn't hurt when he scores outrageous goals such as against Sagan Tosu, too.
Prediction: Shanghai SIPG 1-2 Atletico Madrid
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