Simeone talks to Atlético about the championship ahead of a tight clash with Celta

Atlético Madrid travels north to rainy Galicia to face goal scorer Celta Vigo on Thursday evening in a spectacle of Sunday’s Madrid Derby.

Atlético Madrid (3-3-0, 12 points) is coming off a disappointing draw against Rayo Vallecano, which extended Los Rojiblancos’ early-season lead over championship rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. This result means Atlético has an “obligation” to win in Vigo ahead of El Derbi Madrileño on Sunday evening. Otherwise, Los Colchoneros could be five points behind Madrid and nine points behind Barcelona before Thursday’s match.

“It is logical to mention Atlético as a candidate to challenge (Barça and Madrid), this has been the case for the last 12 years,” Diego Simeone told reporters. “In the end, nothing else happened other than one of those two teams winning the title, except for the two leagues we won.”

Photo: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Celta (3-0-3, 9 points) is among LALIGA’s best performers at the beginning of the 2024/25 season. Under head coach Claudio Giráldez – and continually inspired by 37-year-old Iago Aspas – Celta scored 14 goals out of 11 expected, the second highest total in the league. The Sky Blues also scored 13 goals (albeit an expected 9.5) in those six games, the most in the competition. Key defender Óscar Mingueza (who has three team-leading assists) will not be available for the match against Atlético due to a hamstring injury.

“We had a bad first half in Vallecas but we reacted well (to falling behind),” Simeone said. “We are working to best meet an opponent who is playing well, especially at home, under a coach who is achieving good results.”

Atlético has won each of the last six meetings against Celta and has lost only once in 17 games against this particular opponent. El Cholo will be desperate to get Julián Alvarez released before the derby; In the first half of the match in Vallecas, the player hit the crossbar from a distance, but he touched the ball only 38 times throughout the match. Koke did not train on Wednesday as Simeone has one eye on El Derbi; the captain was called up to the squad anyway and will have minutes in Galicia. Rodrigo de Paul, who scored the winner in Atlético’s previous match against Celta, is back in the squad and will be given a few minutes before the derby after resting for the trip to Rayo.

Date September 26, 2024

Location Estadio Abanca Balaídos, Vigo, Pontevedra, Galicia

Start time 21:00 CET, 20:00 BST, 15:00 ET, 12:00 PT

TV/streaming available ESPN+ (United States), DAZN (Spain)