Previews
SÁB 21.02.2015
Almería UD will visit the Spanish capital to take on Atlético Madrid on matchday 24 of the Liga BBVA. Atlético don’t want to lose touch with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, but face an Almería side that have notched seven out of the last nine points available and will come out at 8 pm on Saturday looking for victory.
Team news
Atlético will be without midfielder Koke, who remains injured, but welcome back Arda Turan and Raúl García for the clash. Rojiblancos boss Diego Simeone has opted to leave out Cristián Ansaldi. For Almería, ‘B’ team graduate Ramón Azeez and defender Ángel Trujillo, who has served his one-match suspension, return to the squad. Goalkeeper Rubén Martínez, still on the treatment table, Thomas Teye, due to the terms of his contract, José Manuel Jiménez "Mané" and Javier Espinosa all miss out.
Views from the dugout
Despite Atlético’s upcoming UEFA Champions League engagement on Wednesday, Simeone declared that his team are only focusing "on the match against Almería. It’s very important in order to continue in the positive vein we’ve been in." Meanwhile, visiting boss José Ignacio Martínez explained that his side will go out at the Vicente Calderón "to compete and make things difficult" for Atleti. Martínez insisted that, above all, Almería will be "bold and ambitious".
© LALIGA - 2015