Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann. (Photo : Getty Images)
Second-running squad Atletico Madrid (21-5-4, 67 points) hit a bump in their road to contend for the Spanish domestic title during their previous match and are now looking to recover against newly-promoted team Real Betis (8-12-10, 34 points) in a 2015-2016 La Liga season match at the Vicente Calderon Stadium this Saturday, April 2nd.
Los Colchoneros suffered a shocking 1-2 setback against bottom-three club Sporting Gijon on March 19th at the Estadio El Molinón to widen the gap between them and league leaders FC Barcelona to nine points, as per Goal.
French striker Antoine Griezmann scored the opening goal for Atleti as Diego Simeone's boys looked headed to another routine win against a bottom-dwelling side.
However, Sporting Gijon surprised the visitors with two goals late in the second half, courtesy of forwards Antonio Sanabria and Carlos Castro Garcia, at the 79th and 89th minutes respectively to pull off the surprise upset over powerhouse squad Atleti.
The loss snapped Atletico Madrid's four-game winning streak and also gave the team its first loss in eight outings. It also made them fail to stay at par with top squad Barcelona and third-running Real Madrid, who had a draw and a win in their matchday 30 encounters.
Los Blancos is now just one point behind Atleti in the league table.
Meanwhile, last season's Segunda Division champions were defeated by middling squad Malaga CF, 0-1, at their home field of Estadio Benito Villamarín also on March 19th, as reported by ESPN.
Midfielder Ignacio Camacho scored the lone goal for manager Javi Gracia's side late in the second half, eight minutes before the full time whistle, to deny all three points away from Los Verdiblancos.
It was the second consecutive loss for El Glorioso after winning two straight games as the team now settles at the 13th spot of the league table, six points away from bottom three relegation back to the Segunda Division.
The predicted result is a 2-0 bounce back victory for Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Oblak; Gamez, Gimenez, Gomez, Luis; Kranevitter; Correa, Koke, Niguez, Griezmann; Vietto
Real Betis starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Adan; Montoya, Pezzella, Westermann, Vargas; Kadir, N'Diaye, Ceballos, Musonda; Damiao, Castro
