Atlético Faces Levante: A Crucial Test Amid Title Chase

Atlético de Madrid head to the Ciutat de València on Saturday with the table smiling at them and the fixture list baring its teeth.

Diego Simeone’s team arrive on a run of six straight LaLiga wins, unbeaten in eight in all competitions, sitting second and just two points behind Barcelona. On paper, Levante away looks like the calm before the storms named Bayern Munich and Barça.

The Ciutat de València rarely does “calm.”

A winning machine with frayed edges

Atlético’s numbers are those of a title contender. Eight wins, one draw, one defeat. Twenty-five points from ten games. Only eight goals conceded and back-to-back clean sheets against Espanyol and Deportivo.

The feeling, though, is more complex.

Their last outing, a laboured 1-0 against Deportivo at the Metropolitano, told the story. Julián Álvarez decided it shortly after the break, and Jan Oblak had to step in late to lock the door. It has been a recurring theme. Four of Atlético’s last six league victories have come by a single goal. They create chances, they get ahead, but they often leave the door ajar.

Simeone will not complain about a team that knows how to suffer. But he knows too well that living on that edge, with Bayern and Barcelona looming, is a dangerous habit.

The flip side is the defensive reset. Eight goals conceded in ten league games is more in line with the classic Atlético under Simeone. The structure has tightened, the distances look right again, and consecutive clean sheets have restored a sense of control that had drifted in recent seasons.

Control will be tested in Valencia.

Levante: chaos at home, and proud of it

Levante sit 14th with ten points from ten games, a position that suggests calm mid-table anonymity. Their home games say something else entirely.

Luís Castro’s side has turned the Ciutat de València into a goal factory. Thirteen goals in four home league matches. Five past Real Betis. Three against Sevilla. Three more against Athletic Club. When Levante attack at home, they do so with ambition and numbers, and they rarely die wondering.

The problem is what happens behind them.

Nineteen goals conceded in ten league matches, ten of them at home. For every punch they land, they leave their chin exposed. It is why this fixture feels less like a routine away day for Atlético and more like a trap laid in broad daylight.

Castro has weapons. Captain Roger Brugué is the obvious one. The winger hit a brace in that 3-1 win over Athletic and has been one of Levante’s sharpest threats from wide areas, attacking space and punishing any lapse in concentration. Iván Romero and Petar Ratkov add more bite up front, and there is an extra subplot with former Atlético defender Manu Sánchez expected to line up on the left of Levante’s back line.

For Atlético’s forwards, this is an invitation. For their defenders, it is a warning.

Simeone’s juggling act

The timing of this fixture could hardly be more awkward for Simeone. Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona in LaLiga – the next two games define the mood of Atlético’s season. The coach must rotate, protect legs, and still avoid a slip that would undo weeks of good work.

The injury list has not helped, especially in midfield.

Koke and Johnny Cardoso remain out with muscular problems, still training apart from the group and unavailable again after missing the win over Deportivo. Their absence strips Atlético of experience and control in the centre of the pitch, exactly where Levante like to unbalance opponents.

There is relief, at least, in defence. Cristian Romero has returned to full training after missing the last two matches against Stuttgart and Deportivo. He has been heavily involved in the sessions leading up to Saturday and could walk straight back into the starting XI, bolstering a back line that will have to cope with Levante’s relentless running and crosses.

In midfield, Simeone has been experimenting. Marcos Llorente has been tried alongside Pablo Barrios, with Morten Hjulmand the likely sacrifice. On paper, resting Hjulmand before Bayern makes little sense; he is suspended for that Champions League tie after his red card against Stuttgart. Logic would suggest he plays at Levante to maintain rhythm and protect others.

Simeone, though, often thinks in terms of specific battles rather than simple rotation charts. Llorente’s energy and vertical runs, paired with Barrios’ calm on the ball, offer a different profile in a game that could stretch from box to box.

Up front, the options are plentiful and the decisions delicate. Giuliano Simeone is pushing hard for a return to the starting lineup, his intensity and movement always appealing to his father in games that threaten to become chaotic. Around him, Jonathan David, Ademola Lookman, Kang-in Lee and Alexander Sørloth all present genuine rotation options.

Then there is Álvarez, whose goals have underpinned this unbeaten run, and Álex Baena, one of the most influential players in Atlético’s attacking patterns. Against a Levante defence that leaks chances, both look primed to profit.

The balancing act is clear: rotate enough to keep Bayern and Barça in mind, but not so much that Levante sense weakness.

A stadium that refuses to bow

History tilts Atlético’s way. Twenty-one wins, eight draws and nine defeats against Levante in LaLiga. The broader record says one thing; the Ciutat de València says another.

Atlético have not won a league match there since June 2020, when an own goal from Bruno González delivered a narrow 1-0 victory. Since then, this ground has been sticky, awkward, unforgiving.

The last meeting in Valencia, in January, ended in a goalless draw that felt like a missed opportunity for Simeone’s side. Earlier that same season, Atlético had brushed Levante aside 3-1 at the Metropolitano, with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice and an Adrián de la Fuente own goal completing the job. Away from home, the margin for error has been thinner.

Those scars matter. They feed into the atmosphere, into the confidence of a Levante team that knows it can bloody the nose of bigger clubs on its own pitch.

Likely line-up and scoreline call

Simeone’s preparations point towards a strong, if slightly tweaked, XI:

Oblak; Grimaldo, Hancko, Romero, Pubill; Baena, Barrios, Llorente, Giuliano; David, Álvarez.

Enough rotation to freshen legs. Enough continuity to maintain identity.

The script many expect is wild. Levante’s attacking fearlessness at home, Atlético’s efficiency and improved back line, and a fixture history that rarely drifts into boredom all point in the same direction.

A 3-2 Atlético win would fit the pattern: Álvarez, David and Baena on the scoresheet, another narrow margin, another step in this unbeaten run, and a seventh straight league victory secured the hard way.

For Manu Sánchez, José Molina, Txomin Nagore, Marc Pubill and all those who have worn both shirts, this is another chapter in a shared story.

For Atlético, it is something sharper: a test of whether a team chasing titles can walk into a stadium that has so often complicated their lives, take the chaos by the throat, and walk out still breathing down Barcelona’s neck.