Sporting de Gijon were a side languishing badly last weekend, but a 2-0 victory over Hercules has certainly increased morale in the Asturians’ ranks. Prior to that encounter, the El Molinon side had gone an alarming 11 matches in the Primera Division without a win, and now Manuel Preciado will attempt to maintain his side’s positive run against Atletico Madrid.
The landscape of los Sportinguistas’ results in La Liga has been dominated by draws over the course of the last year. Already they have tied seven times this season, and towards the end of last term they were recognised as 1-1 specialists – a tag they have done little to shake since.
Victory over Hercules, which came courtesy of goals from David Barral and Nucho Cases, was enough to push Sporting temporarily out of the drop zone, but wins must be accrued on a more regular basis if they are to stay out of the bottom three.
“The team has always worked and shown a great attitude but it seems that poor results led to a kind of mental block,” Preciado said after last weekend’s success. “[The team] had almost forgotten how to win.”
With an unwelcome monkey off their backs, the Gijon club are looking forward to Sunday’s clash with great optimism, though it promises to be a difficult affair.
Mentally Strong
There was more derby disappointment for Atletico Madrid on Thursday evening, when they were ousted from the Copa del Rey by city-rivals Real Madrid. A solitary Cristiano Ronaldo goal was all it took to down los Colchoneros on the night, but the overall result was comfortable; Jose Mourinho’s men moving through 4-1.
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores was, nevertheless, impressed with his side’s attitude in midweek, of the opinion that they showed the correct desire, despite being placed in an almost impossible position but the Portuguese star’s strike.
“We pushed hard and tried to play football against a team that made things hard for us,” he commented. “I have full confidence in the group. The team is smart; it works well daily and prepares for each match with a lot of intensity. In recent years, we have been more successes than failures.”
The Primera Division campaign is not necessarily going smoothly for los Rojiblancos. At the start of the campaign they were heavily tipped to be a side competing for the top four, but they have failed thus far to show the kind of consistency required to move into that bracket. A seven point gap to Valencia is not unbridgeable, but in the second half of the campaign, the men from the Vicente Calderon will have to show greater consistency, starting on Sunday.
TEAM NEWS
Sporting
Andre Castro has indicated his willingness to make his debut on Sunday, but on the other hand Jose Angel has told the club of his desire to leave.
No new injury problems have been registered. Alberto Botia is poised to miss out again, but Luis Moran should be back involved.
Atletico
Jose Antonio Reyes isn’t expected to be fit after being withdrawn after only 25 minutes on Thursday evening with a sprained ankle. Sergio Aguero, Mario Suarez and Jorge Pulido all missed out in midweek and will struggle for this encounter, but Antonio Lopez returns.
Prediction
Atletico Madrid are horribly unpredictable beasts, but Sporting Gijon tend to play relatively well at home. This match is unlikely to be a walkover for los Colchoneros, who simply cannot string a run of positive results together. The hosts will be battling for every point they can get, and this is a match they will not want to lose.
Sporting de Gijon 1-1 Atletico Madrid 
