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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 2
Atletico Madrid v Elche
Metropolitano Stadium
Madrid, Spain
Saturday, 23 August 2025
Kick-off is at 18h30
Atletico Madrid will be determined to get their
La Liga season up and running when they welcome Elche to the Metropolitano on Saturday, August 23.
Los Colchoneros are expected to mount a sustained title challenge in 2025-26 after they finished 12 points adrift of champions Barcelona in third place last term.
However, Diego Simeone's side made a disappointing start to the new campaign as they squandered the lead at the RCDE Stadium to lose 2-1 to Espanyol on August 17.
Atleti have a good home record against Los Franjiverdes though, winning their last five top-flight encounters in the Spanish capital.
Elche returned to La Liga this season after spending two years in the Segunda Division, having earned automatic promotion as runners-up to Levante.
The Alicante outfit have struggled to establish themselves in the top tier of Spanish football in the 21st century, never finishing higher than 13th and suffering relegation on two occasions.
Eder Sarabia's side lost just nine of their 42 games in 2024-25 and had the meanest defence in the league, conceding 34 goals - six less than the next best team, Mirandes.
Simeone admitted he got his substitutions wrong after taking off Johnny Cardoso, Alex Baena and Thiago Almada with Atletico leading 1-0 at the time.
"They managed the game in the best way until that goal we talked about. It had been good and we wanted to bring in fresh players. I liked Almada, Alex, Johnny... No-one wants to win more than me, and we lost," the Argentine said.
"I think this has been a learning experience for myself. I'm left with something that remains for me, but I have a learning in what we saw. There is a learning for me, you'll see."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Atletico wins - 4
Elche wins - 1
Draws - 0
La Liga Matchday 2 fixtures:
Friday, August 22
20h30: Real Betis v Alaves
Saturday, August 23
16h00: Real Mallorca v Celta Vigo
18h30: Atletico Madrid v Elche
20h30: Levante v Barcelona
Sunday, August 24
16h00: Osasuna v Valencia
18h30: Real Sociedad v Espanyol
18h30: Villarreal v Girona
20h30: Real Oviedo v Real Madrid
Monday, August 25
18h30: Athletic Bilbao v Rayo Vallecano
20h30: Sevilla v Getafe
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