Levante are named after a wind that occurs in the western region of the Mediterranean, but since winning promotion back to the top flight last summer, the football club have blown few sides away. Dismissed by Hercules last weekend, Luis Garcia’s side are floating just above the relegation zone and will need one of their best performances of the season to salvage anything against Atletico Madrid.
Los Granotes were simply outgunned by los Herculanos last weekend. In terms of overall quality on the field they were not a great deal behind, but in terms of ability in front of goal, Nelson Valdez and David Trezeguet had no equals on the visiting side, whose sole goal came from substitute Ruben Suarez, who had come on for the injured Felipe Caicedo.
Ruben is nevertheless confident ahead of Saturday’s difficult looking encounter. “Atletico is a big rival, but we will not be defeated and cannot be afraid of anyone,” he explained to Marca. “We may lose but they will have to do very well and run a lot. I trust this team to death.”
Meanwhile, Juanlu has expressed his hope that los Colchoneros don’t arrive in Valencia with their top stars such as Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan. Without players of such calibre of their own, los Granotes will again struggle defensively, having lost 23 goals already this season. On a run of five defeats in their last six games, they really need to stop the bleeding.
Tactically Awful
Atletico Madrid’s season started with a great deal of promise. Two successive wins at the start of the campaign had tails up in the Spanish capital, but reality has since set in to Quique Sanchez Flores’ side, who have just endured their hardest week of the campaign to date.
At the Vicente Calderon last weekend they were outgunned 3-2 by Champions League rivals Espanyol, but worse was to follow in midweek when they were beaten by an identical scoreline by Greek minnows Aris in the Europa League, leaving the champions’ progression to the knockout stages still uncertain.
“It was a game similar to Espanyol and we were poor,” Flores explained to the media after Wednesday’s tie. “The last 10 minutes have been tactically awful.
“We lacked intelligence. We played very upset, very nervous.”
Atleti’s European future is now out of their hands after a nightmare evening in the Spanish capital, but they must quickly lay the foundations for a repeat assault on the continent next season. At present, los Colchoneros sit seventh in Spain’s top flight and are by no means guaranteed a place in Europe next term. The prestige of the club has taken a battering over the last few days, though victory against Levante will restore some pride.
TEAM NEWS
Levante
Christian Stuani has suffered from a heavy blow to his foot, but the club’s medical services have confirmed there is no break and he hence returned to training earlier this week. Care is also being taken over Felipe Caicedo and Xisco Nadal. Asier del Horno is back from injury though.
Hector Rodas, Xisco Munoz, Nacho Gonzalez, Iborra and Miguel Perez are all still out.
Atletico
Tiago is suspended after crossing the disciplinary threshold, but there has been some good news as long-term problem Borja Gonzalez has started training with the first team squad again. Diego Godin has not returned after a kidney operation and Sergio Asenjo is missing too.
Prediction
Even with a midweek match to distract them, Atletico Madrid should prove too powerful for Levante. Home or away, the Valencia side have struggled to contain opponents, and with a dangerous forward line that appears to be clicking into gear, los Colchoneros should bounce back from last weekend’s surprising loss to register a win at the Ciutat de Valencia.
Levante 1-3 Atletico Madrid 
