At 3:30 AM on August 20th, Villarreal will host Atletico Madrid in the first round of the 2024/25 La Liga season.
Although the summer transfer window is not yet closed, Atletico Madrid has undoubtedly become the “most stylish” team this summer. Their acquisition of Alvarez from Manchester City for a total price of €95 million (€75 million transfer fee) has made them a major talking point. They also signed Spanish international Le Normand from Real Sociedad for €34.5 million and poached Norwegian striker Solbakken from Villarreal for €32 million. Solbakken was a prolific scorer in La Liga last season, finishing as the league’s second top scorer with 23 goals. The reason for Atletico’s big spending in the transfer market is their continuous efforts to free up salary space. Sending Morata away was just the first step, followed by Omorodion and Felix. It is foreseeable that these two will bring in significant transfer income for the team.
On the other hand, Villarreal continues to adhere to the “selling only” principle. They sold Solbakken, their key player, for €32 million, goalkeeper Jorgensen for €24.5 million, and Diaz to Southampton for €8.3 million. The Yellow Submarine is experiencing another season of significant bloodletting. In terms of signings, they acquired defender Cambwala from Manchester United for €10 million and veteran Ayose from Real Betis for €4 million. Last season, Villarreal finished eighth in the league after a strong finish. This season, they may experience a more difficult campaign.
Before the start of the season, Villarreal arranged 6 pre-season friendlies, winning only one. The results of the 6 matches were: 1-2 loss to Leicester City, 3-1 win over Sion, 1-3 loss to Saint-Étienne, 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund, and 0-4 loss to Brighton. Their poor offensive form and flimsy defense pose a serious challenge for the team’s new season.
Atletico Madrid has only scheduled 4 friendlies, including a commercial match against Hong Kong team Kitchee. In their last pre-season friendly before the start of the new season, they defeated a rebuilding Juventus 2-0. While other teams are busy arranging friendly matches to fine-tune their squads and test player fitness, Atletico Madrid has taken a different approach, focusing their efforts on the transfer market. In terms of results, the team has indeed reaped significant benefits. If they can seamlessly integrate their new players, even with multiple competitions, Atletico Madrid’s fighting strength is likely to increase significantly.
Statistics show that the two teams have met 46 times, with each side claiming 16 wins, 14 draws, and 16 losses. In terms of head-to-head record, they are evenly matched. However, in their two encounters last season, Atletico Madrid emerged victorious, beating Villarreal 3-1 and 2-1 at home and away respectively. Based solely on historical head-to-head data, it would be inaccurate to consider the two teams as equally matched. In reality, Atletico Madrid’s squad upgrades have significantly surpassed Villarreal’s on paper. However, one-sided matches are rare in the history of the two teams’ confrontations. Villarreal’s tenacious spirit often causes their opponents to lose patience, leading to mistakes.
Before the match, Atletico Madrid coach Simeone discussed the integration of their three new signings. He said that Solbakken and Le Normand will contribute to the team in attack and defense respectively. Alvarez has just joined the team and, although he has participated in four days of training, is still adapting to the new team’s tactics and requirements. Based on this, it is likely that the young spider will not start the match. Simeone might include the Argentine in the squad and, depending on the situation on the field, give him the opportunity to make his debut for Atletico Madrid.
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