Atletico Madrid vs Las Palmas preview

January 9, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Revived Atletico Madrid are in control after the 2-0 triumph in the first leg, but Las Palmas will attempt to keep the tie alive for as long as possible.

Los Colchoneros have not been at their very best this season, but they did manage to show improvement at the turn of the year.

It all started with the league win over Las Palmas, and the team has since beaten Eibar in the league, while also defeating Guijuelo and Las Palmas in Copa del Rey.

Diego Simeone’s side are on the verge of securing their place in the quarter-final of the competition, but they cannot afford to take this game lightly.

As far as their La Liga campaign is concerned, Atletico have climbed back to the top 4 as Villarreal and Real Sociedad dropped points, but they are still nine points behind leaders Real Madrid, who have a game in hand.

Head coach Diego Simeone is sweating over the fitness of Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco (Achilles) and Tiago Mendes (knee), who are considered major doubts.

Meanwhile, Thomas Partey is away on international duty, whereas Jan Oblak and Augusto Fernandez continue to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Moya – Juanfran, Savic, Jimenez, Filipe Luis – Koke, Gabi, Saul, Gaitan – Gameiro, Griezmann.

Las Palmas are enjoying the second successful season since gaining promotion to Primera as they current occupy eighth position in the overall standings.

Boasting a 12-point advantage over the bottom three, los Amarillos do not have to worry about the survival battle at the moment, but can rather play without pressure.

It is their impressive home form that is the main reason behind the enviable league position, with Las Palmas one of just two La Liga sides not to have lost a home game this term, the other being leaders Real Madrid.

The narrow win over Sporting Gijon further improved their chances of beating the drop, but team’s Copa del Rey campaign is about to come to an end.

Las Palmas will try to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg, but that is clearly easier said than done given the opponents.

Brazilian defender Michel Macedo is back in contention after returning late from vacation, but Angel Montoro and Sergio Araujo are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Varas – Macedo, Lemos, Bigas, Castellano – El Zhar, Vicente Gomez, Roque Mesa, Viera, Garcia – Boateng.

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