Celta Vigo vs Atletico Madrid

High-flying Atletico Madrid head to the Estadio de Balaidos to encounter out-of-sorts Celta Vigo in a lopsided La Liga fixture.

It’s been a season of disappointments for Celta manager Rafael Benitez as 10-man Getafe held his side to a 2-2 draw on the stroke of the international break, leaving them at a single win across the opening nine La Liga matchdays (D3, L5). Supporters at the Balaidos have yet to celebrate a victory this term, with Celta going winless in five straight La Liga games on home turf (D2, L3) since overcoming Barcelona in the final round of 2022/23. Ending a four-match losing H2H run against Atletico Madrid would alleviate some pressure on Benitez. He joined the club in the summer to revive the Galician outfit but has only contributed to Celta’s worst nine-game start to any league campaign in the 21st century.

Meanwhile, a 2-1 home triumph over Real Sociedad before October’s international break strengthened Atletico Madrid’s form resurgence after back-to-back competitive games without winning in mid-September. Diego Simeone’s men have since won five matches on the trot across all competitions, including four in La Liga, whittling down the gap on pacesetters Real Madrid to five points. With a game in hand, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ could be part of title conversations this term, but they’ll need to improve their dire form on the road (W2, D1, L1) to make that happen. With each of their four league travels this season seeing one or both sides failing to get on the scoresheet, opening the scoring could be a game-defining moment for either team.