We did not have to wait long for the top tier of Spanish football to return. Today’s program gifts us with three matches, of which two could bring a lot of excitement.Let’s start with the one being played last on Tuesday. Despite being well into his 12th season in charge of Atlético Madrid, and under fire from naysayers after dropping points in three of his first six La Liga matches (D1, L2), Diego Simeone told reporters he “continues to be excited” by his team’s journey. His charges are back in form too, having now compiled three consecutive league victories after winning away to Athletic Club (1-0) to leapfrog them into the top four.They’ve got a golden opportunity to edge closer to the peak when hosting fellow Madrid club Rayo Vallecano, one of the poorest travellers of this young season. The visitors will have to make sure their batteries are fully charged as Real Madrid remain the only La Liga team to burst Atlético’s defences prior to half-time in domestic 2022/23 contests, although Simeone will still be looking for a complete performance, having seen his side concede in all four league home outings so far (W2, L2).BALLON D’OR: Finally, as befits and as it is only right – Karim Benzema!There’s perhaps no better club to end that drought against than Rayo Vallecano, who have put one solitary goal past Atlético from eight matches played in any competition since the start of 2015/16 (D1, L7). Rayo have suffered from textbook inconsistency throughout this domestic campaign, soaring as high as defeating Valencia (2-1) before falling to newly-promoted Almería (1-3) all in the space of a month to level out into a mid-table position.Ready for Atleti-Rayo Vallecano 👊 pic.twitter.com/kAPy5fLN0p— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) October 17, 2022 Manager Andoni Iraola is under increasing pressure to keep Vallecano away from a logjam at the bottom of the standings after some questionable decisions, including renewing the contract of veteran Radamel Falcao. He will be as desperate as anyone to enjoy some overdue success against their local rivals then, having not defeated Atlético in any of his last eight encounters as a manager or a player (D1, L7). Álvaro García could be the Vallecano difference maker again after inspiring his side to league wins at Athletic and Barcelona last season with goals inside the first ten minutes.After celebrating his 100th goal for Atlético last round, Antoine Griezmann owes his home fans something to cheer as his last La Liga home goal for the club was in April 2021.Two hours prior, Gennaro Gattuso and his men travel to Andalusia, where a man of similar temperament to the Italian’s will welcome them from the dugouts.In the recent past, the situation on the table for these two clubs looked completely mirrored – Valencia struggled to keep up with the upper echelon of the league while Sevilla often fought for the very top of La Liga. However, at the moment Sevilla are 14th while the Bats are standing eighth.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The Andalusian club is going through its worst start to a La Liga season across the last decade. But they received a much welcome boost in the form of a tight 1-0 weekend win away to Mallorca that could best be described as fortunate as an early double save, a late goal-line clearance and a generous decision not to send Gonzalo Montiel off before half-time with a second yellow card assisted them in converting their only shot on target into victory.Nonetheless, they continued an unbeaten run across all competitions (W1, D2) under the returning manager Jorge Sampaoli who assessed their first clean sheet of the La Liga season as a potential turning point in what has been an unfamiliar campaign: “building from fear is difficult… the group needed to calm down, and now the group will grow”. It was indeed at a similar point last season where their 3-1 home win against upcoming opponents Valencia got their campaign going with a run of four consecutive league home victories.🦇 @valenciacf | Sevilla-Valencia: alineaciones probables 📺+Info #AbalónParado #CVEDesports @juanmaromerodm @superdeporte_eshttps://t.co/95mR1X5ODi— Levante TV (@Levante_TV) October 18, 2022 That was one of six consecutive La Liga encounters that Valencia failed to win (D2, L4), which could count for nothing when considering they’re off to their best start to a season since 2017/18. They’re in a similar predicament to their hosts though, needing to plug a leaky defensive unit that has just two league clean sheets this season and is not helping the team enjoy the full rewards of four straight hauls of at least two goals.Despite that, it was profligate attacking that Gattuso took issue with after their 2-2 home draw with relegation contenders Elche, blasting his team for wasteful opportunities at times stating: “there were four or five easy chances” which his side didn’t take. Gattuso needs to look just a week further back for confidence, when Valencia won 2-1 at Osasuna – a feat that Sevilla could not achieve themselves earlier in the season.LA LIGA – ROUND 10Tuesday20:00: (2.40) Sevilla (3.30) Valencia (3.35)21:00: (4.30) Getafe (3.40) Ath.Bilbao (2.04)22:00: (1.60) Atl.Madrid (3.90) Rayo Vallecano (7.25)Wednesday20:00: (3.10) Valladolid (3.10) Celta (2.68)20:00: (3.90) Cadiz (3.05) Betis (2.19)21:00: (1.61) Sociedad (3.80) Mallorca (6.50)22:00: (9.00) Elche (5.50) Real Madrid (1.36)Thursday20:00: (2.75) Almeria (3.10) Girona (3.00)21:00: (2.16) Osasuna (3.40) Espanyol (3.90)22:00: (1.56) Barcelona (4.40) Villareal (6.75)***odds are subject to change***©FlashScore
