Atletico Madrid maintains the lead in the Spanish League by a small margin, with the resumption of competition between the two major teams in Spain

Atletico Madrid narrowly leads the Spanish giants heading into the second half of the La Liga season, having registered 15 wins in all competitions. Diego Simeone’s side visit Leganes on Saturday and will look to maintain their advantage over champions Real Madrid, second, and third-placed Barcelona. Los Blancos host Las Palmas on Sunday after the Catalan side visited Getafe the night before following back-to-back five-goal victories, with the two teams competing in the league for the first time in the new year.

After stagnating at the end of 2024, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup and Real Betis secured a Copa del Rey win in midweek, showing they remain firmly in the Spanish title race.

Atletico’s late win at the Olympic Stadium before the winter break helped them move six points clear of Barcelona, ​​while only one point behind defending champion Real Madrid.

The Rojiblancos have a deep squad, with their top scorer Alexander Sorloth usually replacing Simeone, behind Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez in the pecking order.

However, Atletico announced on Thursday that the Norwegian striker had suffered a muscle injury, but did not specify how long he would be out of action.

While Real Madrid’s injury problems have cost them defensively on multiple occasions, and Flick appears to be reliant on a small group of players, Atletico have more room to rotate without losing quality.

Simeone made changes to several players during the team’s 4-0 victory over Elche in the round of 16 of the Spanish King’s Cup on Wednesday, but won comfortably.

Simeone said: “The players showed the work, humility and perseverance (they need), and that each one of them accepts the place he occupies in the team.”

“They make it more difficult for me to choose between them.”

With Atletico looking to win the Champions League for the first time in their history as well, their deep squad allows them to compete on multiple fronts.

Simeone added: “There are a large number of matches, there is no time to recover, and this creates a need for everyone to perform.”

Atletico suffered only one defeat in the Spanish League this season, which was against Real Betis last October.

However, as usual, the Argentine rejected the idea of ​​dreaming beyond his team’s immediate future.

“This word does not exist,” Simeone said when asked if Atletico were invincible.

“We think about things one game at a time.”

As Real Madrid struggle to find the balance between defense and their star-studded attack, Carlo Ancelotti has finally returned striker Kylian Mbappe to his dangerous best.

The French striker scored a stunning solo goal against Barcelona on a terrible night for Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia, as Barcelona won 5-2.

“He needed time to adapt to the team to show his best physical levels,” Ancelotti said this week.

“He is now at his best and the team must take advantage of that.”

Barcelona are also purring again but coach Flick has taken a leaf out of Simeone’s book.

“We are going step by step,” the German said after the 5-1 win over Real Betis on Wednesday.

“Saturday is the next game, we want to play that, be ready for that, and win that too.”

Player to watch: Sevilla’s Belgian winger Dodi Lukebakio has been in fantastic form this season, emerging as one of the best talents in the division. The Andalusians have struggled in recent years and find themselves in 13th place, with Lukabakio’s eight goals keeping them out of the relegation battle. The dynamic striker is their best hope of picking up points on Saturday when they visit an improving Girona side.

Key statistics 5 – Barcelona player Adel Lamine Yamal has already scored his number of goals in the Spanish League from last season.

11- Real Sociedad has the most clean sheets in Spain this season.

58 – Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid player, carried the ball into the penalty area more than anyone else.

Combinations

Friday (GMT)

Espanyol – Valladolid (2000)

Saturday

Girona vs. Sevilla (1300), Leganes vs. Atletico Madrid (1515), Real Betis vs. Alaves (1730), Getafe vs. Barcelona (2000).

Sunday

Celta Vigo – Athletic Bilbao (1300), Real Madrid – Las Palmas (1515), Osasuna – Rayo Vallecano (1730), Valencia – Real Sociedad (2000).

Monday

Villarreal – Mallorca (2000)

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