La Liga Preview: Strong Reinforcements Upgrade Atlético de Madrid’s Squad, Villarreal May Face Challenges After Losing Key Forward

At 3:30 AM on August 20th, the first round of the 2024/25 La Liga season will see Villarreal host Atlético de Madrid.

Despite the summer transfer window not yet closing, Atlético de Madrid has already become the “shiniest star” of this summer. The total cost of 95 million euros (75 million in transfer fees) to snatch Alvarez from Manchester City has made Atlético’s name stand out. Previously, they also signed Spanish international Le Normand for 34.5 million euros from Real Sociedad, and prised away Sørloth, a Norwegian striker who scored 23 goals last season in La Liga, earning him the silver boot, for 32 million euros from Villarreal. Atlético’s ability to make such big moves in the transfer market is due to their continuous efforts to free up salary space. Sending Morata away was just the first step, followed by Omorodion and Félix, both of whom are expected to bring significant transfer income to the team.

In contrast, Villarreal continues to adhere to the principle of “only selling, no buying.” They sold Sørloth, their key player, for 32 million euros, their main goalkeeper Jørgensen for 24.5 million euros, and Díaz to Southampton for 8.3 million euros. Villarreal is undergoing another season of significant bloodletting. In terms of signings, they brought in the young defensive talent Cambwara from Manchester United for 10 million euros and signed veteran Ayoze from Real Betis for 4 million euros. Last season, Villarreal finished 8th in the league after a strong finish. This season, they may face an even more challenging one.

Before the start of the season, Villarreal arranged six warm-up matches, winning only one. The results of these six games were as follows: a 1-2 loss to Leicester City, a 3-1 win over Sion, a 1-3 loss to Saint-Étienne, a 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, a 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund, and a 0-4 loss to Brighton. Their poor offensive form and porous defense pose a severe test for the team’s journey in the new season.

Atlético only arranged four friendly matches, including a commercial match against Hong Kong team Kitchee. In their last pre-season friendly, they defeated the rebuilding Juventus 2-0. While other teams were busily arranging friendlies to gel their squads and assess players’ form, Atlético took an unconventional approach, focusing solely on the transfer market. The team indeed reaped substantial benefits, and if they can integrate perfectly, even with multi-front battles, Atlético’s combat power could be significantly enhanced.

According to statistics, the two teams have met 46 times, with each winning 16, drawing 14, and losing 16, making their records equal. However, in the two encounters last season, Atlético won both matches, defeating Villarreal 3-1 and 2-1 at home and away respectively. If only looking at past head-to-head data, the two teams might be mistakenly considered evenly matched. The reality is that after upgrading their squad, Atlético’s paper strength has far surpassed Villarreal’s. However, the history of their encounters rarely shows a one-sided affair. Villarreal’s tenacity often makes their opponents lose patience, leading to costly mistakes.

Before the game, Atlético coach Simeone talked about the integration of the three new signings, stating that Sørloth and Le Normand would help the team offensively and defensively respectively. Alvarez has just joined the team and, despite participating in four consecutive training sessions, is still adapting to the team’s tactics and requirements. Based on this, it is speculated that the young player might not appear in the starting lineup, and Simeone might place the Argentine in the squad, ready to help him complete his Atlético debut based on the game situation.

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