Atletico Madrid are considered hot favourites to win this game, although the fact that los Colchoneros are still far from the desired form can give Stromsgodset a chance to earn a decent result before the return leg in Norway.

Atletico Madrid finished last La Liga campaign in seventh place, tied on points with Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao, but the poor record in the matches against the two teams meant that the team would have to start their season early due to the Europa League commitments.

New boss Gregorio Manzano has only started to implement his ideas into the squad, and with so many new players arriving this summer, it is no wonder that the hosts are yet to hit the ground running.

Los Colchoneros did stay without David De Gea and Tomas Ujfalusi, but Thibaut Courtois, Tiago, Adrian Lopez, Julio Alves, Silvio, Miranda and Gabi all arrived this summer, while Eduardo Salvio returned from Benfica.

Seeing that his 4-3-3 system hasn’t worked as planned in pre-season, Gregorio Manzano could revert to 4-4-2 for the Stromsgodset match, but that cannot change the fact that the hosts are hot favourites here, being priced 1.20 (1/5) with Betfair.

Diego Godin and Elias are unlikely to feature, having just returned from Copa America, while Kun Aguero is set to complete his transfer to Manchester City. Diego Costa has picked up a knee ligament injury, meaning that Diego Forlan will slot to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Joel – Silvia, Miranda, Dominguez, Filipe Luis – Juanfran, Gabi, Tiago, Reyes – Adrian, Forlan.

Stromsgodset finished last league campaign in 7th place, but they qualified for Europa League by winning the NM Cupen and were very unlucky to be drawn alongside Atletico Madrid.

Godset are well know for their impressive performances at their Marienlyst Stadium with artificial grass, where they tend to beat even teams stronger than they are, but everything changes when they leave their comfort zone.

Stromsgodset are one of the worst travelers in Norway, having failed to win more than three away games in every one of their last three seasons, so there is no way they’ll be able to stop Atletico from winning this game.

Even in weak Norwegian league, Godset have picked up just one point from last four away games, so odds of 1.57 (4/7) offered by Stan James on Atletico to win with -1 European handicap could be worth a shot.

Apart from back-up midfielder Andre Hansen, coach Ronny Deila will have full squad to choose from.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Kwarasey – Aas, Madsen, Andersen, Vilsvik – Konradsen, Sankoh, Abu – Kamara, Storflor, Berget.