Atletico Madrid vs. Real Sociedad: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Stream, TV Info
Atletico Madrid won the battle of the capital city sides at the weekend to establish their dominance over their local rivals and remain the main threat to Barcelona's title hopes.
It will still take a monumental effort for Atleti to catch the Catalan club, but thanks to their impressive defensive efforts, it does remain a possibility.
Atletico have kept four clean sheets in a row in all competitions, though it's notable that they've only scored twice. Two narrow wins and a pair of scoreless draws is the sort of run that keeps Diego Simeone's team in the hunt for trophies, rather than going full throttle and being favourites to win them.
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Of course, the underdog situation suits the Vicente Calderon team to an extent, but in La Liga at least, it seems they've left themselves too much to do now.
Even so, relentlessly marching on toward the end of the campaign with victory at every turn is the only possible route for Los Colchoneros. The match against Real Sociedad will be far from easy, but with such a good record at home this season, Atleti will have every reason to think they can continue their five-game unbeaten stretch.
Four games in 10 days is a huge volume of football to get through, though, especially given the physical exertion extended by the team against Real Madrid, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see Simeone switching the starting XI around in one or two areas where he has the depth to do so. Midfield might be a problematic area, with three injuries still prohibiting alterations, but Oliver Torres could be called upon again for a runout, while Jesus Gamez, Luciano Vietto or Angel Correa could also play.
Matias Kranevitter has to continue to bide his time, and his chance may not come until next season.
For those heavily involved, though, despite the possible fatigue, the promise of keeping the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga has to be enough to get through the 90 minutes. Only wins will do at this stage, however they come. Effectiveness over excitement will be the order of the night at the Calderon on Tuesday.
Date: Tuesday, March 1
Time: 8 p.m. GMT/3 p.m. ET
Venue: Vicente Calderon, Madrid
TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK), beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Espanol (USA)
Live Stream: SKY GO Extra (UK), BeIN Sports CONNECT (USA)
The Teams
Atletico Madrid are second in La Liga and in great shape to end the season in the top two, having come through El Derbi recently by winning at the Santiago Bernabeu, establishing a four-point gap between themselves and rivals Real Madrid. Even so, and with only four defeats all season long, Atleti are eight points off leaders Barcelona and are relying on an improbable late slip-up to take the title.
Recent form has been good for Atleti with that win at the weekend; they're four games without conceding a single goal and have only lost twice since Christmas—those coming in back-to-back fixtures at the end of January, before they went unbeaten in February.
As for Real Sociedad, after a dismal early run for new boss Eusebio Sacristan after he initially took over, things have turned around in the last two months. La Real have suffered defeat only once in 2016, a 5-1 reversal at the hands of Sporting Gijon.
The Anoeta side's recent run has seen them win four on the bounce and draw once, last time out, at home to fellow much-improved side Malaga. Real Sociedad sit in ninth place, with only an outside chance of making the European spots this season.
Team News
Atleti are still without Tiago, recovering from a broken leg, but brought Augusto Fernandez back into their starting lineup last time out after he recovered from his injury.
Two of their more offensive midfielders are likely to continue missing out, however, with Yannick Carrasco still suffering from ankle problems and Thomas Partey having a hamstring issue that has forced him to miss the last three Liga matches. Centre-back Stefan Savic is also out injured, having left the field in the UEFA Champions League match at PSV last week.
La Real have three absentees through injury, with right-back Carlos Martinez and centre-back Raul Navas both still sidelined. Their long-term miss is Sergio Canales from the attacking-midfield line, who is out with a torn ACL.
The side has been rotated somewhat of late, with Diego Reyes coming into the holding-midfield line at times, Bruma and Mikel Oyarzabal both featuring from the left side and Jonathas having re-established himself as the starting striker.
Possible Lineups
Atleti (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Juanfran, Josema Gimenez, Diego Godin, Jesus Gamez; Oliver Torres, Saul, Gabi, Koke; Angel Correa, Antoine Griezmann.
La Real (4-2-3-1): Geronimo Rulli; Aritz Elustondo, Mikel Gonzalez, Inigo Martinez, Yuri; Diego Reyes, Ruben Pardo, Illarra; Carlos Vela, Mikel Oyarzabal, Jonathas.
Player to Watch: Antoine Griezmann, ATM
Back on the scoresheet last time out and against his old team next, Antoine Griezmann tends to score in patches of form, and Atleti will be desperately hoping he's about to come into one now, making him the man to watch in this game.
Earlier on in the season he tore Real Sociedad's defence to shreds with a display of movement, pace and direct running, scoring probably his personal goal of the season with a solo run and composed finish en route to a 2-0 Atletico win.
Griezmann hasn't been ably backed up by any particular forward partner this season, with three or four players rotating in and out around him, so the priority has to be in servicing Griezmann inside the box and trying to make chances fall his way.
If Simeone's team can do that, another home win is on the cards.
Prediction: Atletico 1-0 Real Sociedad
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