Next Saturday, 22nd of November 2014, the current La Liga champions, Atlético Madrid, will entertain a super inspired Málaga at Vicente Calderón for round 12 of the Spanish Liga BBVA, a match of the utmost importance for Los Colchoneros, especially after their major slip-up at the Basque country two weeks ago.

Atlético Madrid are not having an easy season so far and some pundits are already claiming that the Colchoneros are nothing but a shadow of the team that was coronated La Liga’s champions last season. Diego Simeone lost several important players during the Summer transfer window and he was forced to reinvent his team and to place the new arrivals into the well-oiled machine he started building a few seasons ago. Such changes take time to implement but before last round’s match at Anoeta, Atlético looked to be on the right path to achieving it. A defeat against Real Sociedad, a team hungry for points, could very well have constituted a huge blow to Atlético’s morale, although last week’s international break will probably help the team to forget their recent misfortune.

Their upcoming game will certainly be far from easy, especially if we take into consideration what Málaga did at Vicente Calderón last season, when they imposed a 1-1 draw to Atlético, forcing them to wait until the last match to celebrate La Liga’s title.

For the clash against the Andalusia team, “El Cholo” Simeone will not be able to rely on the contribution of Siqueira and Mario Suárez, who are both suspended.

As for Málaga, no one could certainly have even dreamed that Los Boquerones would be having such a fantastic season, especially after what they did last term. The arrival of Javi Gracia at the helm of the team seems to have rejuvenated a team that often looked “sleepy” and fairly uninspired under Bernd Schuster’s stewardship during the last campaign.

Despite their recent defeat on a friendly clash against Córdoba, Málaga are on an impressive winning streak at La Liga, as they have managed to win their five last matches for that competition. The Andalusian team has developed a lot since the beginning of the season and Javi Gracia’s work is already blatantly obvious.

Despite Málaga’s recent inspired moment, Atlético Madrid have to be considered favourites for the upcoming clash. Nevertheless, they will need to dig deep in order to overcome a well organized team such as Los Boquerones.

Atlético Madrid

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WWWLW

Málaga

Stats: W-0 L-2 D-3

Recent Form - DLDDL

Possible Line-ups

Atlético Madrid (4-4-1-1) - Moya - Juanfran - Miranda - Godín - Ansaldi - Gabi - Koke - Griezmann - Tiago - Turan - Mandzukic

Málaga (4-2-3-1) - Kameni - Torres - Angeli - Weligton - Boka - Camacho - Darder - Samuel - Castillejo - Juanmi - Amrabat

Prediction

Atlético Madrid 2 Málaga 1