Atletico Madrid vs Girona 17/01/19

17 January 2019

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Atletico Madrid welcome Girona at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in the return leg of the Copa del Rey last-16 tie.

Unbeaten in their last 16 competitive outings (W10, L6), Los Colchoneros come into this meeting after a 1-0 home win over Levante in weekend’s La Liga clash. It was Atletico’s fourth consecutive match that has produced under 2.5 goals and in which Diego Simeone’s players scored exactly one goal. It was also the sixth successive home clash in which Los Rojiblancos managed to keep a clean sheet. No Spanish team has allowed fewer goals at home than Atletico Madrid this season (just 5 in 14 games in all competitions), with Jan Oblak conceding over 1.5 goals per match at home only once so far. Last year’s La Liga runners-up usually move up a gear in the second half, with eight of the last nine goals they’ve scored at home came after the break.

On the other hand, the visitors have gone from back-to-back losses to four straight draws. Three of those four stalemates have ended with the identical 1-1 scoreline, with Girona coming back from behind twice during the run. The Blanquivermell are winless on their last three road trips (D1, L2), having failed to hit the net twice in the process. Although they’ve lost just two of their ten away clashes this season, the Gironistes were held to five draws, with three of them ending 2-2. For Girona, the action happens in the second half, as 12 of 16 goals in their previous seven games came after the halftime.

All four H2H meetings between these two since Girona joined the top flight have ended without a winner, with the last three draws they’ve played out finished 1-1.