Third-placed Atletico Madrid will be hoping to cement the final automatic Champions League berth with their fifth win in six games, but defeating Villarreal will be no easy task.

The Yellow Submarine still have an outside chance of pipping Sevilla to a top 4 finish, and they arrive at Vicente Calderon buoyed by the last-gasp win over Leganes.

This is the first season after quite a while that Atletico Madrid entered the business end of the campaign without realistic chances of winning the La Liga trophy.

However, they currently occupy third position in the overall standings, sitting seven points behind the El Clasico rivals and they are expected to stay there come end of the season.

Meanwhile, the team have again impressed in the Champions League, where they eliminated Bayer Leverkusen and Leicester City to reach the semi-finals.

And having been pitted against local rivals Real Madrid, Atletico will have a perfect chance to get revenge on los Blancos for defeats in the 2014 and 2016 finals.

Before they take on the bitter rivals, los Colchoneros will have to negotiate league games against Villarreal and Las Palmas, with the first of those scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Even though Sime Vrsaljko, Augusto Fernandez and Juanfran remain sidelined, head coach Diego Simeone is widely expected to make changes to the side that defeated Espanyol on the road.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Oblak – Gimenez, Savic, Godin, Filipe Luis – Koke, Gabi, Saul, Gaitan – Gameiro, Griezmann.

Villarreal barely kept their Champions League hopes alive thanks to a controversial winner against Leganes, as the match officials didn’t spot that Cedric Bakambu had scored the winning goal using his hand.

The Yellow Submarine still sit eight points behind fourth-placed Sevilla and are unlikely to achieve a top 4 finish, but they will not give up without a fight.

Villarreal have been blowing hot and cold over the last few months, winning six and losing four of their last ten games, but their away record is not that bad at all.

The Yellow Submarine did lose two of last three on the road, but only after recording four successive away wins and they are now priced at 8.50 (15/2) to shock Atletico at Vicente Calderon.

Head coach Fran Escriba welcomes back Victor Ruiz from suspension, but Denis Cheryshev and Sergio Asenjo remain in the treatment room.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Fernandez – Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Jaume Costa – Samu Castillejo, Trigueros, Bruno, R. Soriano – Soldado, Bakambu.