Atletico Madrid will play their first competitive fixture of the season in Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup, their first since taking on Eibar in LaLiga on May 20.
Some thought that the final LaLiga match of the 2017/18 season would be Antoine Griezmann’s last one in an Atleti shirt, but he is back and ready to wear his No.7 jersey once again.
He announced he’d be staying in a mini-documentary called ‘The Decision’, which not everybody loved.
What Atletico fans did love was the ending, when the Frenchman revealed he would stay in the Spanish capital.
Besides a salary increase, his conditions were for Atletico to improve their facilities and to improve their squad.
They are working on the first requirement, while they have succeeded with the second by signing several talented players during the summer months.
Griezmann and Diego Simeone now have a squad that can compete for all titles, like this Wednesday’s one.
Of course, Griezmann is the crown jewel and it’s so important for Los Rojiblancos that he features in Tallinn against Real Madrid.
Although he has only been back for 10 days after helping France to World Cup glory, when it’s recommended he trains for 15 days before an elite match, he is ready to go.
Simeone knows that these matches are all about emotion and even said so during his press conference, so it’s important for the forward to be on the pitch and to try to make something happen.
Now the third captain of the team, Griezmann will be even more of a leader this season and he’ll be the one who many of his teammates look to against Los Blancos, a team he has enjoyed plenty of success against.
In 17 matches against Real Madrid with Atletico, Griezmann has won six, drawn eight and lost three, while scoring seven goals, including the most recent.
In UEFA matches, he is the player to have scored five of his team’s past eight goals and was the driving force of their Europa League triumph.
Because of that and because of the World Cup, he is a Ballon d’Or candidate and is he’ll hope to win a third final in a row in Estonia.
It marks the official beginning of a new era for Los Blancos as Julen Lopetegui takes charge of his first competitive game since taking over from Zinedine Zidane and the former Spain boss will be eager to get off on the right foot by securing some silverware.
The competition has been dominated by Spanish clubs over the course of the last decade, with Champions League holders Real winning three of the last four editions, while Atletico triumphed in 2010 and 2012.Real arguably hold the bragging rights over Atletico having defeated them in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals, so Diego Simeone’s men are out to prove a point.
Lopetegui has brought a 29-man squad with him to Estonia and one of the notable inclusions was Luka Modric, whose future has been subject to intense speculation in recent weeks.
New signings Thibaut Courtois and Vinicius Jr. could be in line to make their competitive debuts, but Alvaro Odriozola has been ruled out. Of course, for the first time in nine years there will be no Cristiano Ronaldo in Real’s ranks.
Potential Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Asensio; Bale, Isco, Benzema.
Diego Simeone has a full squad available and the game could see new signings Thomas Lemar and Nikola Kalinic make an appearance.
Potential Atletico Madrid XI: Oblak; Juanfran, Luis, Godin, Gimenez; Saul, Koke, Lemar; Griezmann, Gelson, Costa.