Real Betis vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio Benito Villamarin is the venue as Real Betis and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head in a tasty-looking La Liga showdown.

After falling agonizingly short of a top-four finish in 2022/23, Betis kicked things off in the new season with a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Villarreal, living up to their traditionally strong starts under Manuel Pellegrini, who’s now won three of his four La Liga openers in charge of ‘Los Verdiblancos.’ However, the Andalusian powerhouse cannot rest on their laurels if they’re to build a head of steam against Atletico Madrid, a side who they’ve only defeated once in their last 23 meetings across all competitions (D5, L17). Without the retired club icon Joaquin and long-serving playmaker Sergio Canales, Betis’ quest to defy an unwanted trend, which saw them go winless on each league travel to last season’s top-four sides (D2, L2), looks somewhat far-fetched.

In the meantime, visiting Atletico Madrid thumped lowly Granada 3-1 at home on the opening weekend, getting their bid to dethrone champions Barcelona off to a perfect start. Manager Diego Simeone knows in-depth about fending off Betis, having gone unbeaten in all ten previous personal H2Hs (W7, D3), suggesting a two-game winning start could be on the cards. Adding to this sentiment, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ boasted the league’s second-best away record in 2022/23 (W10, D5, L4), courtesy of their quick-fire starts. Indeed, Atletico broke the deadlock in a league-high 14 away league games last season, going unbeaten on each occasion (W10, D4). Flying out of the traps is required if they’re to post a third consecutive top-flight victory at Benito Villamarin.