La Liga: Atletico Madrid Out to Defuse Granada on the First Day

Atletico Madrid vs Granada

Atletico Madrid will open their 2023-24 La Liga campaign against Granada at the Civitas Metropolitano.

Los Rojiblancos finished third in the standings last season, and their main objective is to try and break the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly once again, which they last did in 2020-21, while visitors Granada are happy to be back in the top division with the hope of having a longer stay.

Both teams were busy this offseason, as they played a handful of club friendlies here in Spain or abroad. Atletico Madrid and Granada also made several moves in an attempt to improve their respective squads.

Which team will get a head start in the new La Liga season? Read more below for today’s match preview.

Talking Points

Atletico Madrid still have questions marks about their roster

Los Rojiblancos’ pre-season tour had just concluded, but they are still far from being a settled squad.

Against Granada on Monday, Atletico Madrid might miss several key players, particularly on the backline, as summer addition Caglar Soyuncu is still unregistered for the 2023-24 season, while Jose Gimenez, Nahuel Molina, and Reinildo Mandava are all dealing with injuries.

Should none of them be available, then Diego Simeone will stick with Stefan Savic, Mario Hermoso, Yannick Carrasco, and Cesar Azpilicueta to marshal their defence.

Meanwhile, up front, Antoine Griezmann is a surefire starter after a sensational 2022-23 campaign. The Frenchman led Atleti in scoring with 16 goals, and he has also provided 17 assists.

But his strike partner remains a mystery. While Alvaro Morata was productive last term with 13 goals, his future at the club has been in doubt all summer, and there’s still a huge possibility that he might leave.

Joao Felix is frozen out of Simeone’s rotation, so that leaves Memphis Depay as a viable candidate to partner with Griezmann.

Depay’s up-and-down week was documented here at SBOTOP, but he has shown enough flashes to convince Simeone that he is worth a start. With just four goals last season, the Dutchman should be much better if he stays healthy throughout the campaign.

Their midfield is perhaps their strongest area on the pitch. Koke, Rodrigo De Paul, and Marcos Llorente will likely start on Monday, with Saul Niguez and Thomas Lemar as their backups.

Will Granada’s improved attack translate in La Liga?

Granada are one of the teams to look out for this season because of their revamped attack, and team boss Paco Lopez is the main reason why.

Lopez replaced Aitor Karanka after a poor run of results in November, and he has transformed them into the best attacking side in the Segunda Division, shipping in a league-best 55 goals while only conceding 30 goals for a positive goal difference of +25.

Under Lopez, Granada never suffered a single defeat on home soil, where they won 17 of their 21 games. In those 17 games, Myrto Uzuni netted at least once, and the Albanian international finished the 2022-23 campaign as their top scorer with 22 goals.

Another key player for the Nazaries is centre-back Jesus Vallejo, who’s on loan from Real Madrid. His winning pedigree would surely come in handy at Granada.

History

Atletico Madrid are undefeated in their last 19 home La Liga matches against Granada (W17, D2), which is their second-longest current unbeaten home streak against the same opponent in the Spanish top-flight.

However, Granada are undefeated in their last two games against Atletico Madrid (W1, D1), and they have a chance to go three consecutive games undefeated against them in the Spanish top-flight for the first time since January 1945 (W1, D2).

Granada have also avoided defeat in nine of their last 10 La Liga seasons when starting on the road (W3, D6), with their last opening away defeat being a 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano in 2012.

But should Atletico Madrid win on Monday, it’ll be the first time since 1983 that they’ve won five consecutive season openers.

Betting Tip

The La Liga 2023 odds have the hosts as the firm favourites to win on Monday, as Atletico Madrid are priced at 1.29, Granada are at 7.80, and a draw is at 5.00 in the 1X2 market.

Granada may have been a bogey team of sorts for Atletico Madrid following their most recent encounters, but we don’t expect them to pull off an upset this time, especially on the road.

With Atleti’s tendency to turn games into slugfests, we don’t expect much La Liga 2023 highlights from this fixture, so going for Under 3.00 at 1.71 is a great betting alternative.

 

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