High-profile Spanish clubs Valencia CF (8-9-10, 34 points) and Atletico Madrid (19-4-4, 61 points) are going in opposite directions in the 2015-2016 La Liga season, but their scheduled meeting on Sunday, March 6th is still highly anticipated by fans of the Spanish domestic top flight.
Valencia is having an up-and-down season so far. The team split their last six games, three wins and three losses as they drift in the ninth position of the league table, two points behind eighth-running Eibar and tied on points with 10th-placed Real Sociedad but has a superior goal differential to move up by a spot.
Gary Neville's boys pulled off a 2-1 win over fellow middling team Malaga CF on the road on Wednesday at the Estadio La Rosaleda, as reported by ESPN.
Malaga forward Duje Cop actually started scoring at the 14th minute of the match, but a freakish own goal from Los Boquerones goalkeeper Carlos Kameni four minutes before halftime equalized the match.
Russian winger Denis Cheryshev, on loan from Real Madrid, netted what became the winner at the 49th minute to seal a rare road win for Els Taronges.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid convincingly disposed the challenge of Real Sociedad, 3-0, at the Vicente Calderon Stadium on Tuesday, as per BBC Sport.
An own goal from Txuriurdin defender Diego Reyes at the eighth minute opened the scoring, which remained until the halftime break.
Los Colchoneros scored two goals after the restart, courtesy of midfielder Saul Niguez and striker Antoine Griezmann at the 46th and 61st minutes respectively, on the way to the blowout victory.
The win was Atleti's second straight and fourth straight undefeated match, keeping them eight points away from expected league leaders and reigning champions FC Barcelona in the overall standings.
More importantly, the win kept them four points ahead of neighborhood rivals Real Madrid, who had been uncharacteristically struggling at this point in the season.
The predicted result is a 2-0 win for Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone's boys will extend their winning run to three games and will remain at second place in the league table.
Valencia starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Alves; Barragan, Mustafi, Santos, Gaya; Parejo, Fuego, Gomes; Feghouli, Alcacer, Cheryshev
Atletico Madrid starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Oblak; Juanfran, Gimenez, Godin, Luis; Koke, G. Fernandez, A. Fernandez, Niguez; Vietto, Griezmann