Atletico Madrid – Athletic Bilbao

Atletico must prove themselves in the match against Atletico

Atlético will take on Athletic at home in the centrepiece of the 22nd round of La Liga. Diego Simeone's team are building up a margin over their rivals in the battle for a place in the top four. The team will have no global problems in solving this problem. Already, Atletico are four points ahead of Betis. In the last round, Simeone's side beat Celta in familiar style. It was a very agonizing victory. It was all decided by a single goal. In the end, the club from Madrid only thought about defense. Defender Stefan Savic let down again. The Montenegrin player has completely lost control of his emotions in recent encounters. He has picked up three penalties in five meetings. Thus, he will miss the clash with Athletic. That said, Savic is the only loss for Atletico. All the other players are ready to play. In recent encounters, the capital club have made tangible progress in terms of attacking play. Simeone's side are second only to Barcelona in terms of attacking performance in 2023. It's the execution that is failing. In terms of advanced statistics, there should be more goals. All is also well in defense. Atletico are fourth in terms of danger at their goal in 2023. The Basques have broken their La Liga black spot. Ernesto Valverde's side have had a poor start to 2023. The team at one point seriously challenged for a ticket to the Champions League. Now it will be difficult to get even into any European competitions. Athletic interrupted their black streak in February, but too much was lost in January. In the last two meetings, there has been hope of a return to the previous results. Athletic managed to defeat Cadiz. They also got a tough away win over Valencia. At the same time, both opponents are outsiders, and the Roma are also in deep crisis. There is no point in projecting these results onto the meeting in Madrid. The Basques have no new losses. Key defender Iñigo Martínez is still injured. Ander Herrera has not yet recovered either. Lately, the Basques have become a real headache for Diego Simeone's team. In a distance of five matches, the side from the capital have only one win. In the next game, however, all the indicators are in favour of Atletico. Madrid play at home and are in great shape. The club is on a one-week cycle and has a full squad of players. There are no problems with the rotation, Simeone can control the matches with substitutions. The state of Athletic is questionable. The crisis has been very recent. Two wins over the underdogs is no indicator.