Vallecas Tonight (9:00pm) is a trap game for a team like Atlético, who arrive euphoric after their victory against Leipzig in the opening match of the Champions League. Rayo knows that the statistics are against them, which reflect nothing less than Five consecutive victories for the rojiblancos in the territory of Vallecano, but they are ready to make it very difficult for those of Simeone in a match in which the Colombian James Rodriguez will face the one it was about to be his team a few seasons ago.
In the summer of 2019 Atletico and Real Madrid almost agreed on James transfer to the red and white team, but on July 27, a friendly match was held in New Jersey in which the red and white team scored seven goals against the whites and all the alarms went off to the point that The Colombian’s transfer has been stoppedthat Simeone had already blessed. We will never know how the story would have been written, but the truth is that today Cholo He will find himself on the opposing side.
With the only objective of victory, Atlético must play the match from the beginning because Barça’s full strength of points forces him, But given the tight schedule, Cholo will have no choice but to make changes, as he admitted yesterday in a press conference. New players will enter and it is very likely that Sortloth and Julián Álvarez are finally seen playing together from the beginning. Many believe that the Norwegian and the Argentinian are compatible, so maybe Vallecas is a good opportunity for both to justify themselves. Be careful because Sorloth el Rayo is not bad in this area: he has already scored six goalsthe last two in April of this year with Villarreal. He is not the only one: Griezmann adds eight and Nahuel twowhich isn’t bad considering he’s a right back.
Pita Melero Lopez, with which Atlético lost last season in Las Palmas, but the real danger is in the VOR room, at whose command there will be none other than the Andalusian Jorge Figueroa Vazquez, relegated to second place as the main referee, but since the VAR, he can continue to commit his usual misdeeds. He is one of those who have the worst reputation in the red and white environment, which is saying something.
Probable lineups:
Radius: Batalla, Ratiu, Mumin, Lejeune, Chavarría, Óscar Valentín, Unai López, De Frutos, James, Álvaro and Sergio Camello.
Athletic: Oblak, Nahuel, Le Normand, Witsel, Lenglet, Lino, De Paul, Gallagher, Griezmann, Julián Álvarez and Sorloth.
Referees: Melero López (field) and Figueroa Vázquez (VAR).
Stadium: Vallecas, 9:00 p.m.
