Atletico Madrid can secure a place in the top four if they manage to beat Villarreal at Vicente Calderon Stadium on Tuesday. Villarreal won the reverse fixture 3-0 in December, back then they were flying while Atletico were having quite a few setbacks. Recent history shows a well-balanced record between the two sides, the last six meetings have produced two wins for each team and two draws.
Atletico Madrid have found their best form of the season when it matters the most, they have pulled through to the Champions League semi-finals and have moved up to third place in LaLiga with a series of nine games without defeat. Last week they recorded a 1-0 victory at Espanyol, so now they have an 11-point advantage over fifth-placed Villarreal. Full-back Sime Vrsaljko might not be able to recover in time for this match, while Juanfran and Augusto Fernandez remain injured.
Villarreal seemed to have what it takes to finish inside the top four this season but they have lost four of their last ten LaLiga matches after crashing out of the Europa League. They dropped to fifth place as a result and only a sensational season finale could lift them back up into the top four. Last week they squeezed past Leganes 2-1, with Cedric Bakambu scoring the winning goal during stoppage time.
Probable line-ups:
Atletico: Oblak - Jimenez, Savic, Godin, Luis - Carrasco, Niguez, Gabi, Koke - Gameiro, Griezmann
Villarreal: Fernandez - Mario, Gonzalez, Musacchio, Angel - Santos, Trigueros, Soriano, Castillejo - Lopez, Bakambu
My prediction: Atletico Madrid to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Atletico win - 1.44
Draw - 4.20
Villarreal win - 8.50
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