Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio de la Ceramica sets the stage for a blockbuster 2024/25 La Liga opening-day clash between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.

You’d need to go back to 2019/20 for the last time Villarreal started a new La Liga season without the distraction of European football after a disappointing eighth-place finish in 2023/24 condemned Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side to a season without continental action. Much of the credit for last season’s frustration goes to a disastrous start, which saw ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ lose five of their opening seven league matches (W1, D1). That’s in line with Villarreal’s traditionally slow La Liga starts, with the home side claiming just one opening-day win across the last nine seasons (D5, L3). Hopes of defying that unwanted trend hinge on halting an underwhelming six-game winless home league streak against upcoming rivals Atletico Madrid (D4, L2). Villarreal will have to pull that off without last season’s top scorer, Alexander Sorloth.

Sorloth has teamed up with Atletico Madrid in this transfer window alongside Julian Alvarez and Robin Le Normand, with the trio replacing the likes of Alvaro Morata, Memphis Depay, and Mario Hermoso, who left the club during the summer. Diego Simeone’s personnel alterations came on the back of a frustrating 2023/24 season, which saw Atletico Madrid finish outside the top three in La Liga for the first time since 2011/12. Indeed, Los Rojiblancos finished last season a whopping 19 points adrift of champions Real Madrid, largely thanks to their sub-par performances on the road. Despite ending the campaign on a three-game winning away run, the visitors claimed just 27 points on their travels, accounting for 35.53% of their points total (27/76).