Atletico Madrid found its scoring touch with a combined six goals over its last two games but that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from adding a talent in Fernando Torres. We’ll have to wait to see if he is still capable of contributing in La Liga as the boyhood Atletico fan won’t make his debut this weekend. Even so, it shouldn’t matter for the home side against a Levante team barely treading above the relegation zone. That’s one of the three best matchups of the week that we’re look at in La Liga this weekend:
Atletico Madrid vs. Levante — Saturday, 10:00 AM ET
La Liga Odds: Atletico Madrid -672, Levante +1732, Draw +592
Antoine Griezmann is coming off a hat trick performance versus Athletic Bilbao as Atletico Madrid scored four unanswered goals in the second half to complete the 4-1 win – and that was without Mario Mandzukic and Koke in the lineup. That is the type of offensive explosion that fans have come to expect from their team but haven’t seen nearly enough at Vicente Calderon this season. Levante is two points up on the final relegation spot but only Elche has a worse goal differential, and they are sitting at the bottom of the table. Bettors will assume that this will be one of the more lopsided games of this weekend but careful with assumptions. One of 2014’s low points for Atletico Madrid was 2-0 loss to Levante.
Another chance to watch Atletico’s skilled attack in full flight at home makes it must-see television in La Liga, but there’s more to this matchup than just that. Anything but the full three points here probably washes away any dreams of an Atletico repeat. They find themselves four points behind Real Madrid at the top of the table but the challenge is that Los Blancos have played a game less. That’s why Atletico better not fall asleep against Levante again. They simply can’t afford it. Pick: Atletico Madrid
Valencia vs. Real Madrid — Sunday, 11:00 AM ET
La Liga Odds: Real Madrid -208, Valencia +481, Draw +350
Real has maintained its lead atop the La Liga table with a game in hand on Barcelona and even though their streak of 23 straight games without a loss finally came to an end in a friendly with AC Milan in Dubai, their focus should be back at its best against a talented opponent in Valencia. After scoring a combined seven goals in a pair of La Liga and Spanish Cup games against Rayo, Valencia needed just a single marker to secure a victory against Eibar. They are right there behind the big three in the La Liga standings with 31 points in fourth place. They have a long way to go to catch Real Madrid at 39 and Barcelona with 38, but Atletico Madrid is just four points up.
Expect Carlo Ancelotti to address the defensive mistakes that cost him against his former team and a renewed focus to help propel Real Madrid to another league victory. Nothing will come easy in this one, though, as bettors should be expecting should be another tough challenge on the road in a hostile environment. Pick: Real Madrid
Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona — Sunday, 3:00 PM ET
La Liga Odds: Barcelona -329, Real Sociedad +781, Draw +428
Real Sociedad isn’t going to scare any of the big three but Barcelona must be careful not to serve as its own worst enemy. They have no room for error in their pursuit of Real Madrid at the top of the table. After scoring a combined 13 goals over their last two games in the Spanish Cup and La Liga, Lionel Messi and company should have no problem scoring enough goals to secure an important three points this weekend. They’ve scored 41 in 16 La Liga affairs while Real Sociedad has just 17.
The countdown to Barcelona’s clash with Atletico is down to less than two weeks but in the meantime, we have another opportunity to appreciate their goal scoring prowess in what should be another dominant performance on another busy weekend. Pick: Barcelona
