Atl. Madrid vs Mallorca prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-04-25 17:30.
A 16th consecutive managerial trip to Camp Nou without a win frustrated Atlético Madrid boss Diego Simeone, but it was relatively inconsequential in terms of the club’s ambitions of entering an 11th consecutive UEFA Champions League group stage next season. Courtesy of Real Betis and Villarreal also falling at the weekend, their buffer inside the top four remained a very comfortable 12 points following their 1-0 loss away to Barcelona.
So after being conquered twice 1-0 by Barcelona this La Liga (LL) season, Atlético’s next task is to avoid having Mallorca, the only other club to have defeated Atlético in LL football since November, inflict upon them the exact same fate. Whilst Atlético’s seven-game unbeaten LL home run (W6, D1) has them warm favourites, Simeone can rest easy knowing they’re not in danger of falling to sixth place as they did following the reverse H2H in November 2022.
Mallorca climbed to tenth place following that win over Atlético and headed into this midweek round in the same position following their first series of consecutive wins since that meeting. Whilst they haven’t been able to further advance up the standings in the nearly six months that have elapsed, European football is still theoretically within reach, particularly if Real Madrid win the Copa del Rey final and push the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff round slot down to seventh.
Whilst their back-to-back wins were against bottom-half clubs (3-1 Getafe and 1-0 Celta Vigo), the importance of the trip to Celta cannot be understated. That was their first LL away win in eight attempts (D1, L6), sparking hopes that they perhaps now have the form and confidence to emulate consecutive 2-0 wins away to Villarreal and Vallecano earlier in the season.
Players to watch: After a double at home to AlmerĂa two starts back, Antoine Griezmann will be looking to score in an AtlĂ©tico home win for the sixth time this calendar year. Vedat Muriqi has gone two starts without a goal but ought to be inspired by his match-winning goal in the reverse H2H, one of five LL wins he has scored in this season.
Hot stat: Just two of Atlético’s last 12 LL matches were decided by a 2+ goal margin.