Atl. Madrid - Villarreal Today, 05 Apr 2014, 16:00 Atletico are not giving up and are going into the last seven rounds as the leading team in the league. Despite their absent players, they will go for the full load against Villareal today After taking over the leading position in the league, Atletico had two major challenges; first, they faced Athletic in Bilbao and then they played against Barcelona in the Champions League. Diego Simeones team has proved their situation is not an accident and that they are the force to be reckon with until the end, both in the league and in Europe. Athletic were beaten more convincingly than the scoreline suggests while Barcelona did somewhat better than Atletico but the team from Madrid will take an excellent result into their home fixture. In terms of results, last week was great, but Atletico lost their best player Diego Costa. At first, it seemed like a serious injury but the it turns out that the newest addition to the Spanish national team might be ready for the return leg in the Champions League. But, he will be out today. Their second important player, Arda Turan, also ended that game with a minor injury. The situation with the Turkish winger is not serious but he will not be at Simeones disposal today. Apart from those two players, Javiel Manquill is also out as he has been for some time. The Argentine coach didnt want to use the absent players as an excuse ahead of the game against Villareal: - I have no reason to think about Costa and Arda. They are great players but theyre gone and we have to accept that fact. I am more interested in the players who will play. We are facing a very good opponent for whom we have huge respect but against whom we have to go for all three points if we want to stay in the title race. There are seven games to go and each on is a finale on its own so nows the time to show the power. Villareal have been the biggest surprise this season for some time and they were among the prime candidates to qualify for the Champions League but a string of slightly weaker results has put them away from their goal and they are now seven points behind the fourth-placed Athletic. The difference is not insurmountable but we will probably not see the Yellow Submarine in the most prestigious European competition. In the last round, they managed to get only 1 point against Elche and their forwards will have to do better if they want to get something from Vicente Calderon. One of the reasons for their poor run were the problems with absent players that Marcelino Garcia Toral has faced up to now and the situation is far from ideal. As usual, the biggest problem lies in the defense where Marcelino cannot count on full-back Jaume Costa (serving suspension) and center-backs Jose Antonio Dorada and Mateo Musacchi. Theyre all standard first-choice players and the recent games have shown what kind of handicap the center-backs represent. They will also be without their talented midfielder Oliver Torres who was loaned from Atletico and according to the contract, Villareal should have paid a fee of 200,000 euros to be able to use him today. Since they didnt pay the fee, the young Spanish international will not be eligible for the game. Their first-choice attacking duo Giovani Dos Santos-Ikechukwu Uche will also be missing due to injury, although there is some chance we might see the Nigerian tonight. Sergio Asenjo, on loan from Atletico, will be on goal today: - I would like to see Atletico win the title, but Im in Villareal now and my goal is for my team to get in the European competitions. I hope I wont prevent Atletico from winning the title but I have to be a professional. Villarreal To Score - 2nd Half: Yes 1/10 Price: 2.78 live after a goal domestic rate of about 2.0 bet 4/10 To Win Match With Handicap: Villarreal (+1.5) Price: 1.58 BTS ?
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 10:07:50 +0000
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