Atletico - Malaga: Who will start the new La Liga season with a win?
In the opening round of the Spanish La Liga, Atletico Madrid will face Malaga on Wednesday, August 19, with kick-off at 21:00 CET, and I am offering you a bet on this match.
Atletico - Malaga: Match preview
Last season in La Liga, Atletico Madrid managed to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League. They finished fourth in the table, collecting 69 points from 38 matches. Atletico also reached the Copa del Rey final last season, where they lost to Real Sociedad on penalties, and were eliminated by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. During their preparations for the new season, Los Colchoneros played four friendly matches, winning two and losing two.
Malaga also finished fourth last season, but in La Liga 2. They collected 73 points from 42 rounds and earned a chance to fight for promotion to La Liga through the play-offs. First, the team defeated Las Palmas 2-1 on aggregate over two legs, before also overcoming Almeria, again winning 2-1 on aggregate. The team are finally returning to Spain’s top flight. They were relegated from La Liga in the 2017/18 season, played in the third tier three years ago, and have now returned to the elite.
Match facts and H2H
- Malaga are returning to the top flight for the first time since the 2017/18 season.
- Atletico Madrid finished fourth in La Liga last season.
- Malaga have won just one of their last five matches.
- Atletico Madrid have lost twice and won twice in their last four matches.
- Atletico beat Malaga 1-0 in their most recent head-to-head meeting.
Probable line-ups
- Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Pubill, Le Normand, Hancko; Simeone, Barrios, Koke, Grimaldo; Kang-in; Lookman, Ortiz
- Malaga: Herrero; Puga, Recio, Galilea, Salinas; Larrubia, Rodriguez, Merino, Lorenzo, Munoz; Chupe
Prediction
The opening match is very important for both teams and will certainly not be easy for either Atletico or Malaga. However, I still believe the experience and quality of Atletico’s players are superior, so I recommend betting on Atletico Madrid’s team total to be over 1.5 goals.
