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Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid: Preview and projected lineups

By Thuya Kyaw

MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 21: Fernando Torres of Club Atletico de Madrid takes on Victor Ruiz of Villarreal CF during the La Liga match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Villarreal CF at Vicente Calderon Stadium on February 21, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 21: Fernando Torres of Club Atletico de Madrid takes on Victor Ruiz of Villarreal CF during the La Liga match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Villarreal CF at Vicente Calderon Stadium on February 21, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) /
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Both Villarreal and Atletico are in a desperate need of points to get back into top four

Sixth place Villarreal host fifth place Atletico Madrid in the last match of round 15 in La Liga today as both teams are set to fight for full three points to move back into top four on the table.

Villarreal come into this match in an awful league form. In the last five league games, they have only won once while losing three times and drawing one. Their attacking powers came into question as they have failed to score in last three league games.

Their 4-4-2 system is becoming too predictable for opponents and star striker Cederic Bakambu has struggled to find his scoring boots. Although losing this match won’t drop them furthermore on the table, it will certainly hurt the morale of the team as they become more distant with the top four.

While Los Rojiblancos on the other hand are not having a good season themselves either. Diego Simeone is having a worst start to a league campaign since he took over as they have only picked up 25 points from 14 games. It is looking very difficult for Atletico to get back into the title race and dropping two vital points at home against Espanyol last weekend didn’t help the matters.

Villarreal are yet to announce their squad to face Atletico. Samu Castillejo, Roberto Soldado, and Alfred N’Diaye are all ruled out for this game with injuries, while Mateo Musacchio may not be risked after coming off with a hamstring problem in their 2-1 victory over Steaua Bucharest on Thursday’s Europa League fixture.

Filipe Luis, who has played 18 of Atletico’s 20 matches in all competitions this season, suffered a thigh injury in Wednesday’s training and is definitely out for this game. Luckily for Simeone the only other injured players are Augusto Fernandez and Alessio Cerci, who has not featured at all this season.

This week has been an eventful one for Los Rojiblancos as they have announced the name for the new stadium, where they will be moving to after this season, and released a new club badge. However, both of them are receiving very negative reviews from the supporters with up to 79% showing their dislike in a survey from the Madrid based newspaper AS.

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The matches between these two clubs have been very tight in recent years. Last season’s meetings produced a 0-0 draw at Vicente Calderon while Villarreal came out as the winners in a 1-0 result in El Madrigal. Given their history, similarities in playing systems, and struggles to score goals in recent weeks, this is looking like another low goalscoring game. Atletico look more lethal out of the two and might just do enough to edge out a 1-0 win over the hosts.

Projected Lineups

Villarreal (4-4-2) – Asenjo; Jaume Costa, Victor Ruiz, Alvaro, Mario Gaspar; Roberto Soriano, Bruno Soriano, Trigueros, Jonathan; Pato, Sansone.

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) – Oblak; Lucas Hernandez, Godin, Gimenez, Juanfran; Correa, Gabi, Tiago, Koke; Griezmann, Gameiro.

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