Atletico Madrid climbed back to the third position as they defeated Cordoba, but los Colchoneros need to extend the winning run if they want to avoid missing out on Champions League qualification.

Meanwhile, La Real have shown a great deal of improvement of late and they head into the clash at Vicente Calderon full of confidence.

While they had largely impressed in the first part of the season, Atletico experienced some problems after the turn of the year, and their Champions League qualification remains in doubt.

Los Colchoneros will be vying bitter rivals Real Madrid for a place in the semi-finals of Europe’s elite competition, but they also need to keep their top 4 bid in La Liga on track.

Recent slip-ups allowed Sevilla to close the gap to just four points, while fourth-placed Valencia is just a point behind Diego Simeone’s side in the league standings.

Back to back wins over Getafe and Cordoba helped los Colchoneros return some of the lost confidence and they can now be backed at 1.36 (4/11) to make it three on the bounce.

Talented midfielder Saul Niguez has marked his return into action with a goal, while Jan Oblak has yet to concede after replacing injured Miguel Angel Moya.

The former Getafe keeper is nearing his return from a hamstring problem, while Raul Garcia and Raul Jimenez should be available for selection.

Joao Miranda returns from suspension, but it remains to be seen whether he will be preferred to Jose Mario Gimenez, who has been in excellent form of late.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Oblak – Juanfran, Gimenez, Godin, Siqueira – Turan, Gabi, Mario, Koke – Mandzukic, Torres.

It took former Manchester United manager David Moyes a while to get his ideas across at Anoeta, but it appears things are slowly falling into place.

Real Sociedad have been making steady progress over the last couple of months and are currently enjoying the best run of form this season.

After the 2-0 loss at Mestalla, La Real went on to win three straight matches in La Liga, defeating Espanyol, Getafe and Cordoba.

The impressive run ended at La Rosaleda as Real Sociedad played out a 1-1 draw with Malaga, but they will be quite happy with the result having levelled the score late into the game.

David Moyes’ charges till hope to enter the race for the final Europa League berth and they are 13.00 (12/1) to defeat Atletico on the road.

Carlos Vela should be back to the side after recovering from injury, but Alberto De La Bella continues to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Rulli – Zaldua, Ansotegi, I. Martinez, Yuri – Bergara, Granero – Prieto, Canales, Castro – Vela.