Athletic Bilbao vs. Atletico Madrid: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Atletico Madrid have carved the title race wide open again in La Liga after making the most of Barcelona's recent slip-ups to close the gap at the top entirely.
The next step for Atleti is perhaps their toughest remaining fixture: away to Athletic Bilbao, with the San Mames outfit in good form themselves and intent on securing a European spot of their own.
Games between these two are often entertaining and goal-laden; only one of the last 12 Liga meetings has seen less than two goals scored, and there have been 26 scored in the last nine league games. This one has little reason to be different.
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Atleti striker Fernando Torres is focused on this fixture rather than the title challenge, per FourFourTwo: "Take one step at a time. The [UEFA] Champions League is far away, so now we have to get the three points in Bilbao. I do not look beyond that. We are excited and enjoying a very nice period, but we do not settle for what we have achieved."
It's a line mirrored by all at the club and championed by manager Diego Simeone, almost without fail, every week.
". @Simeone: "As I always say, the most important and decisive match is the one tomorrow." #AthleticAtleti #GoAtleti pic.twitter.com/uIOM0pqmJe
— Atleti English (@atletienglish) April 19, 2016"
The desire to win this game is the same on both sides. Ander Iturraspe's return to the side and to form saw the Athletic midfielder showcasing both his loyalty and his hopes for victory in the upcoming game, as he spoke in the pregame press conference, per Athletic Club's official Twitter feed (in Spanish).
Iturraspe said he wanted to remain at the club his entire career, that he was extremely happy with his team-mates and the ambition of the side and his team needed the points to continue their push for Europe.
Athletic are perhaps in the overall less-pressurised position, especially due to their win over Malaga last time out. They have room for manoeuvre in trying to attain a top-six finish, but for Atletico, the opposite is true.
It's likely they will need a perfect end to the season, not just to overhaul Barca at the top, but also to hold off Real Madrid, who are just one point back in third. A huge upcoming few weeks awaits, but as Torres and Simeone noted, the most important match is the next one.
Date: Wednesday, April 20
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST / 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: San Mames, Bilbao
TV Info: Sky Sports Red Button (UK), Canal+ Liga (Spain)
Live Stream: Sky Go Extra (UK), beIN Sports CONNECT (USA)
The Teams
Athletic Club have turned around their poor early-season form once again and are now challenging for European spots, having jumped up to fifth place over the weekend.
They enjoy a five-point lead over seventh-placed Sevilla, with a top-six finish guaranteeing UEFA Europa League football again for next term. The Basque side will consider themselves unfortunate to not be in that competition at the semi-final stage, having exited to Sevilla on penalties last week, but they returned to winning ways with a victory in Malaga in Jornada 33 on Sunday.
A typically gritty and battling performance was required to beat the Andalusians, but even without main striker Aritz Aduriz available, Athletic showed they know the route to victory.
As for Atletico, a routine and extremely impressive win over Granada put them right back in the title race; they're now level on points with Barcelona and in second place only on head-to-head. They still need the Catalan side to slip up once more and remain perfect themselves, but three wins on the spin has the confidence of the team sky-high.
Atletico are still in Europe, too, and they face Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals.
Team News
Athletic's strongest XI contains two vital pillars for them, one at each end of the pitch, but both are going to be missing for this big clash. Aymeric Laporte's unfortunately timed injury sees him miss the rest of the season, while Aduriz and his 33 goals for the campaign will be a huge absence for the Basque outfit.
A hamstring problem sidelines him, and his potential replacement, Sabin Merino, is also injured with a thigh issue. Inaki Williams missed the weekend game with a thigh strain, too, but if he is anywhere near fit, then Athletic will be desperate to have him on the pitch rather than go with Borja Viguera up front.
Atletico are in good shape overall. Tiago remains a long-term absentee after a broken leg, but Stefan Savic returned from injury at the weekend, and fellow centre-back Jose Gimenez is also back in training, though not in the matchday squad.
Add in Thomas' recent return from injury to play his part as an impact sub, and Oliver Torres doing likewise at the weekend after a spell out, and the bulk of the fringe players are once again available to Simeone.
Filipe Luis was left out at the weekend, but he should return this time out:
"Squad list (1/2): Moyá, Oblak, Godín, Filipe, Savic, Gámez, Lucas, Juanfran, Koke, Kranevitter... #AthleticAtleti #GoAtleti
— Atleti English (@atletienglish) April 19, 2016"
"Squad list (2/2): Óliver, Augusto, Saúl, Carrasco, Thomas, Griezmann, Fernando Torres, Correa and Vietto #AthleticAtleti #GoAtleti
— Atleti English (@atletienglish) April 19, 2016"
Possible Lineups
Athletic (4-2-3-1): Gorka Iraizoz; Eneko Boveda, Xabier Etxeita, Mikel San Jose, Mikel Balenziaga; Benat, Ander Iturraspe; Markel Susaeta, Raul Garcia, Iker Muniain; Inaki Williams.
Atletico (4-3-3): Jan Oblak; Juanfran, Stefan Savic, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis; Saul, Gabi, Koke; Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres, Yannick Carrasco.
Player to Watch: Fernando Torres, ATM
A man in form and a big bonus to Atleti's challenge on two fronts at the back end of this season, Torres is firing on all cylinders as he tries to win himself a new contract at the club as well as some silverware.
The Spanish striker has scored in each of his last three Liga games and, since netting his 100th goal for the club in February, is netting at a rate of one every 91.5 minutes in league play—a fantastic rate. He is linking up particularly well with Koke, who's arguably the most in-form midfielder in La Liga at this point, and the duo have combined several times for scoring chances in the past few weeks.
Look out for Torres leading the line on his own at times as Griezmann and Carrasco drop in to form an impenetrable five-man barrier for Athletic to navigate. Torres will then surge into the channels to give his team an out ball and lead the counter-attack.
Prediction: Athletic 0-1 Atletico
