🏏 Sat, 17 Oct 2026 14:00 CEST
Espanyol
vs
Atletico Madrid
5-4-1 vs 4-3-1-2
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Atletico Madrid arrive second with 19 points from eight matches (6-1-1), five behind leaders Barcelona on 24, level with third-placed Real Betis and one clear of Real Madrid in fourth. Espanyol are 12th on eight points with a level goal difference of 11 scored and 11 conceded, stuck in a logjam where eight clubs from ninth-placed Celta Vigo down to 16th-placed Osasuna are all tied on eight points.
- Atletico come in on a four-game winning run. After a 3-0 defeat away at Athletic Club in round four, they won 3-0 at Real Sociedad, hammered Osasuna 4-0 at home, edged Real Madrid 2-1 in the derby and took three points at Alaves with a 2-1 win. Their +10 goal difference is bettered only by Barcelona (+27) and Real Madrid (+11).
- Espanyol's form line reads D-W-L-L-D, their only win in that stretch the 2-0 success at Osasuna in round five. Since then they lost 2-1 at Rayo Vallecano, were beaten 3-1 at home by Elche and were pegged back to a 1-1 draw away at bottom side Malaga, who have just four points from eight games.
- The shape battle pits Espanyol's 5-3-2 against Atletico's 4-4-2. The hosts pack the back line with five to squeeze the flanks, while the visitors field Ademola Lookman and Jonathan David up front with Lee Kang-in and Giuliano Simeone wide. With a three-against-four count in central midfield, Pol Lozano, Edu Exposito and Bryan Zaragoza must win the second balls for Espanyol to stay in the game.
- Midfield control looks decisive. Atletico anchor the middle with Morten Hjulmand (27, Denmark, 185cm), a 40 million euro signing from Sporting CP who captained both Lecce and Sporting, alongside academy graduate Pablo Barrios (23). Espanyol reply with No.10 Pol Lozano (27), promoted from the club's academy in 2019 after loan spells at Girona and Granada, and Edu Exposito (30), schooled at Deportivo La Coruna and Eibar.
- There is a reunion in the home back line. Leandro Cabrera, the 35-year-old Uruguayan centre-back, is a 190cm left-footer whose former clubs include Atletico Madrid as well as Getafe, Crotone and Real Zaragoza, and he brings South American aggression to the duels. Bench midfielder Alex Calatrava (26) also came through Atletico's academy, so a substitution would put another old boy on the pitch.
- Atletico's front pairing is new this season. Jonathan David (26) is Canada's all-time leading scorer, won Ligue 1 with Lille in 2020-21 and arrived on deadline day in the summer of 2026 on loan from Juventus with an option to buy, a two-footed striker who thrives running in behind. Beside him is Ademola Lookman (26, Nigeria), the 172cm dribbler who scored a hat-trick in a Europa League final. Espanyol answer with a tall back three of Cabrera (190cm), Vanja Drkusic (188cm) and Clemens Riedel (186cm).
- The wide duels should be lively. Giuliano Simeone (23), son of the manager, is an Argentina international winger who established himself after loans at Deportivo Alaves and Real Zaragoza. On the other flank, Lee Kang-in (25, South Korea) is a left-footed attacking midfielder out of Valencia's academy who came via Mallorca and Paris Saint-Germain. They face academy-bred right-back Omar El Hilali (23, Morocco), who twice turned down Barcelona, and 21-year-old Roger Hinojo, back from a loan at Cultural Leonesa.
- The benches tell a story too. Atletico can call on Julian Alvarez (26), a 2022 World Cup winner who lifted the Premier League and Champions League with Manchester City, 196cm Norwegian Alexander Sorloth, former La Liga assist leader Alex Baena (25) and Alex Grimaldo, part of Leverkusen's unbeaten title-winning side. Espanyol's trump cards are Gabriel Moscardo (21), on loan from PSG after 39 appearances for Braga last season, and Tyrhys Dolan (24), a regular for five seasons at Blackburn Rovers.
- The goalkeeping contrast is stark. Jan Oblak (33, Slovenia, 188cm), signed from Benfica and the bedrock of Atletico's defence for years, faces 25-year-old Angel Fortuno, an Espanyol academy product and Spain youth international, with 194cm Marko Dmitrovic (34, Serbia), a Europa League winner at Sevilla, waiting on the bench. Oblak also comes up against Slovenia team-mate Vanja Drkusic in the Espanyol back three.