Atletico Madrid will look to bounce back from a surprise defeat against Las Palmas when they welcome Rayo Vallecano to the Metropolitano on Thursday.
Diego Simeone's are sitting in third place in the league standings, while the visitors will head into the game in 10th position.
Match preview
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The 2024-25 campaign promised to be a successful one when Atletico Madrid entered the month of March, but it has quickly disintegrated into one of disappointment over the past nine competitive matches.
That run of results has seen Atleti lose on penalties to city rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16, as well as losing 5-4 on aggregate to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Meanwhile, their title hopes have effectively been ended by a poor run of form that has seen them lose three times in their previous six league outings, including a narrow loss in Saturday's trip to Gran Canaria.
Diego Simeone's side looked set to play out an underwhelming goalless draw with Las Palmas, before their frustrating evening took a turn for the worse when a moment of poor defending gave Javi Munoz the chance to net a 93rd-minute winner, condemning Atleti to a defeat at the Estadio de Gran Canaria for the second season in a row.
Atletico, who are now 13 points adrift of top spot, will at least fancy their chances of taking something from Thursday's encounter, having avoided defeat in each of their last 17 competitive matches against Rayo (W13, D4).
Los Colchoneros also boast a strong record at the Metropolitano this season, with their 16 home La Liga games producing 11 wins, four draws and just one defeat.
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Rayo's European bid has lost considerable momentum in recent weeks, having won just one of their previous nine league matches (D3, L5).
Their only victory in that period took place in their away game against Alaves at the end of last month, with Pathe Ciss and Pedro Diaz scoring in a 2-0 victory at Mendizorroza.
However, Rayo were quickly stopped in their tracks by a heavy 4-0 home defeat against Espanyol, before they gave up an early lead to lose 3-1 in their most recent away outing against Athletic Club.
They then had to settle for a point in Saturday's home game against Valencia after they saw a Cesar Tarrega own goal cancelled out by Umar Sadiq's equaliser, meaning that they have now gone five consecutive home matches without a win since starting 2025 with three successive La Liga victories in Vallecas.
Despite their recent poor form, the 10th-placed side remain in the hunt for European football, sitting two points adrift of a Conference League spot and three points adrift of a Europa League position.
Rayo will try to bolster their European hopes by beating Atletico for the first time since recording a 2-1 home win in February 2013, while they have not beaten Atleti in an away league game since running out 2-0 winners in August 1999.
Team News
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Atletico have reported no fresh injury concerns, meaning that they should have a fully-fit squad for Thursday's home fixture.
Argentina international Rodrigo De Paul should come into the side to partner Pablo Barrios in the middle of the park.
Antoine Griezmann is also in contention for a starting spot, with the Frenchman set to replace Alexander Sorloth in the frontline.
Julian Alvarez will continue to offer Atleti's main goal threat, having netted 14 goals in 32 league appearances this season.
As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Abdul Mumin and Jonathan Montiel due to knee and quad injuries respectively.
Sergio Camello is in the final stages of his recovery from a foot injury, but he is unlikely to be ready for the trip to the Metropolitano.
Inigo Perez could decide to freshen up his midfield by handing a starting place to Unai Lopez, who has had to settle for substitute appearances in the last two matches.
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Llorente, Gimenez, Le Normand, Galan; Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher; Alvarez, Griezmann
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Chavarria; Valentin, Lopez; De Frutos, Diaz, Garcia; Nteka
We say: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
Atletico may be experiencing a frustrating run of form, but they tend to save their best performances for home matches, and we believe that they will do enough to edge out a Rayo side that have lost three of their previous four La Liga away games.
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