Atletico Madrid need to keep winning and hope the top two slip up

Atletico Madrid need to keep winning and hope the top two slip up, as they bid to stay in the title race in Spain. They travel to Gran Canaria this weekend to take on Las Palmas.

Los Rojiblancos have no other distractions and a favourable run-in, but they have seven points to make up on leaders Barcelona. They head into this game following back-to-back victories, but they were surprisingly made to work by rock bottom Real Valladolid who netted twice at the Estadio Metropolitano on Monday.

Defensively, Diego Simeone’s side are not looking as solid as was the case earlier in the campaign, while talisman Antoine Griezmann has really gone off the boil, failing to score or assist in any of his last nine games.

There’s certainly hope for Las Palmas here, after the Canary Islanders secured their first victory of 2025 last time out, with Fabio Silva and Oli McBurnie doing the damage in a 3-1 comeback win at Getafe. They are still in the relegation zone heading into this weekend though.

Las Palmas won this fixture last season, with Kirian Rodriguez and Benito Ramirez scoring in a 2-1 victory for what was then Garcia Pimienta’s side. However, they’ve a pretty miserable overall record against Atletico Madrid in recent years, conceding 21 goals in the last six meetings alone.

Diego Martinez isn’t likely to make too many changes after Las Palmas finally chalked up a victory last time out, but Alberto Moleiro could earn a recall in an advanced midfield role.

As for Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone may recall Rodrigo De Paul in midfield if he’s deemed fit enough to start the game following injury. The visitors have no major fitness concerns, with Samuel Lino also available again.

Las Palmas: Horkas, Marmol, McKenna, A. Suarez, Rozada, Bajcetic, J. Munoz, F. Silva, Moleiro, S. Ramirez, McBurnie.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Galan, Gimenez, Le Normand, Llorente, Gallagher, Barrios, De Paul, Simeone, Alvarez, Griezmann.