Atletico Madrid vs Deportivo La Coruna: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Atletico Madrid’s—perhaps ultimately futile—pursuit of Barcelona at the summit of the Liga table continues with a home match against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday evening, when Diego Simeone’s side seek to extend an 11-match unbeaten league run at home.
Atleti now sit eight points behind Barca in second place—but, crucially, four ahead of city rivals Real—and they’ll expect to extend that number for 24 hours at least ahead of Los Blancos’ trip to Las Palmas on Sunday evening.
Deportivo sit 13th in the table coming into the weekend, and they are going through an incredible slump, having failed to win a game since December 19 last year.
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That run now stands at 14 matches in league and cup, and it would be a huge surprise if they were to upset their hosts on what plenty will expect to be a routine evening.
Date: Saturday, March 12
Time: 7.30 p.m. GMT / 2.30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid
TV Info: Sky Sports 2
Live Stream: Sky Sports
Last 6 Results
Atletico Madrid
Won 1-0 vs. Getafe
Drew 0-0 vs. Villarreal
Drew 0-0 vs. PSV Eindhoven
Won 1-0 vs. Real Madrid
Won 3-0 vs. Real Sociedad
Won 3-1 vs. Valencia
Deportivo La Coruna
Drew 1-1 vs. Sporting Gijon
Drew 2-2 vs. Real Betis
Lost 1-0 vs. Espanyol
Lost 1-0 vs. Granada
Lost 4-1 vs. Athletic Bilbao
Drew 3-3 vs. Malaga
Team News
Atletico Madrid
Fernando Torres scored within nine minutes of coming on in Atletico’s 3-1 win at Valencia last weekend, the veteran forward is pressing for a start here and could come in for Luciano Vietto up front.
Diego Godin and Stefan Savic both missed that game through injury, and neither are likely to return here, meaning that Lucas could again be pressed into service in defence. Matias Kranevitter is likely to hold on to his place in the centre of midfield given the injuries that Simeone has in that position, although Thomas Partey was on the bench in Valencia.
Possible XI: Oblak, Juanfran, Lucas, Gimenez, Filipe Luis, Gabi, Kranevitter, Saul, Koke, Griezmann, Torres.
Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo boss Victor Sanchez has tried everything to try to halt his side’s non-winning run, but you get the feeling that he’d be delighted with a point here and that his team selection will reflect that.
The 3-3 draw against Malaga last weekend offered both cause for optimism and fear, and given that Sanchez will again be without Juan Dominguez, Cani, Sidnei and Fabri for this one, he is likely to field a similar XI and hope that their defensive play improves against one of the best sides in the country.
Possible XI: Lux, Navarro, Luisinho, Arribas, Borges, Bergantinos, Mosquera, Juanfran, Luis Alberto, Cartabia, Perez.
Key Players
Atletico Madrid: Koke
So often the gifted link between defence and attack for Diego Simeone’s team, midfielder Koke will be vital if his side are to quickly establish dominance over their less-illustrious opponents and make their home advantage pay.
The silky Spain international is so often the leader in Simeone’s midfield, and as one of the leading stars in Spain’s next generation of players, he’ll be desperate for a strong end to the season ahead of the European Championships in France in the summer.
Deportivo La Coruna: Luis Alberto
A peripheral presence in the Liverpool team in the Reds’ title-chasing 2013/14 season, Luis Alberto has impressed on loan at Deportivo this season.
Whether that will be enough to get him into Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield plans is hugely unlikely, of course, but the attacking midfielder has done well during his temporary stint at the Riazor, scoring five La Liga goals this season and registering an assist in the draw with Malaga last weekend.
The former Barcelona and Sevilla man will be looking to support Federico Cartabia in attack, and Atletico would be wise to watch him carefully.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Atletico Madrid: 1-4
Deportivo La Coruna: 14-1
Draw: 17-4
