Champions: Atlético de Madrid v Olympique de Marseille

Match Day 2 is upon us, finally!

Unfortunately, our injury list still contains quite a few names: Maniche, Seitaridis, Pablo, Forlán & Simão.

Here’s who we are left with:

STARTING 11: Leo Franco, Perea, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernía, Assunção, Raúl García, Maxi, Sinama-Pongolle & Agüero.

SUBS: Coupet, Antonio López, Domínguez, Banega, Camacho, & Keko.

The only doubt is whether Aguirre will use Luis or Miguel. Personally, I’d give Miguel a starting position, based on last weekend’s performance.

Bottom-line: Let’s win! We’re playing at home & a win would boost morale after last weekend’s tragedy.

Jornada 5: Atlético de Madrid v Sevilla FC

(Good news for those of us in the USA: The game will be televised (en vivo!) on channel GolTV.)

This game marks the start of a difficult run of games: home to Sevilla, away to Barcelona, home to Real, and away to Villarreal.

STARTING 11: Coupet; Seitaridis, Ujfalusi, Perea, Antonio López; Raúl García, Éver, Maxi, Luis García; Agüero & Sinama.

SUBS: Leo Franco, Pablo, Pernía, Assunção, Miguel, Camacho, Keko (Atleti B player).

Éver receives his first starting 11 spot– his selection surprised quite a few folks as Assunção seemed to be a likely replacement for Maniche.

KEY PLAYERS STILL INJURED: Forlán, Maniche, Simão, Heitinga.

For their part, Sevilla arrive unbeaten after four rounds of Liga.

Their chosen squad: Palop, Javi Varas, Konko, Crespo, Dragutinovic, Squillaci, Fernando Navarro, David Prieto, Duscher, Fazio, Jesus Navas, Maresca, Capel, Romaric, Adriano, Kanouté, Luis Fabiano, Chevantón.

Lots of pace in the wings for this team. How will the likes of Seitaridis contain a player like Capel? I hope for the best, of course, but the Greek hasn’t inspired much confidence in me. I hope our fullbacks can keep their cool… Navas, Capel, Luis Fabiano & Kanouté are all dangerous threats.

This has the makings of being a cracker. Let’s hope that we are the victorious ones… A por las putillas cerdillistas!

Jornada 4: Getafe 1 Atlético de Madrid 2

A forgettable performance, but a win nonetheless and that’s all that matters, especially when considering the sub-quality of the back-line (with the exception of Ujfa, of course). Our only goal was scored by Sinama, thanks to long effort by Ujfa.

The bad (besides the awful performance, I mean)? Maniche & Simao are injured. Maniche will not play against Sevilla this Sunday. Simao’s injury will be assessed tomorrow by the physios.

In other news,  special thanks to Miguel, the writer of the always excellent Sólo Unos Pocos blog, for bringing to my attention a new song by Frente Atlético.

Vamos campeón
pon güevos que hoy ganamos
estoy descontrolado
yo te quiero ver campeón!!!

Jamás jamás
te dejará esta hinchada
en la buenas y en las malas
nunca deja de animar!!!

Great song, and what a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium!

Jornada 4: Getafe v Atlético de Madrid

The other Madrid derbi!

On a personal note, I love that there’s a weekday fixture; I hate that I’m at work at the moment! I hope to watch it via Internet while I’m here though…

STARTING 11: Leo Franco, Pernía, Pablo, Ujfalusi, Seitaridis, Luis García, Assunçao, Maniche, Simao, Agüero & Sinama.

SUBS: Coupet, Antonio López, Perea, Raúl García, Maxi, Miguel, Banega, Camacho,

Getafe are playing 4-4-1-1 with Soldado as their main striker.

I don’t care how we win…whether it’s a narrow 0-1, or a 0-4 thrashing, or a crazy 4-3 result. Let’s just win.

Also: Nightmare rumour of the week? As mentioned by a blog commentator in the previous entry, Manchester City’s new owners apparently have their eyes set on KUN.

Speaking of which, special thanks to all blog commentators who share their thoughts, opinions, and news about the club/players! Much appreciated, as always!!!

Jornada 3: Atlético de Madrid 4 Recreativo de Huelva 0

 

Another masterful, comfortable victory in front of the Atleti Faithful

Coupet; Seitaridis, Ujfalusi, Perea, Antonio López; Maniche (Éver 68’), Raul García, Simão (Luis García 56’), Maxi; Sinama-Pongolle & Kun Agüero (Miguel 60’)

GOALS
8′ Agüero, set-piece taken by Simao.
52′ Maniche, incredible effort.
77′ Sinama-Pongolle, sublime run by Miguel.
88′ Sinama-Pongolle, superb pass by Luis.

Solid performance all around, particularly by Maniche.

Kun continues to impress me again and again and again. And again!

Sinama is more than capable of playing in place of the injured Uruguayo. Oodles of talent, pace, and an eye for goal.

Simao— a total class act and set-piece genius. Always threatening and clever when he has the ball at his feet.

Ujfalusi— the strong Czech centre-back. What did we do without him?!

Coupet— the experienced Frenchman. Rock solid performance today.

Substitutes, Miguel and Luis in particular, continue to prove that we have depth on the bench. 

My one worry at the moment are the fullbacks.

All in all, though, I couldn’t be happier with our recent performances and style of play– fairly solid defence and attack-minded. Is this our season to achieve great things?

Our next three fixtures:
Wednesday, 24 September: away to Getafe.
Sunday, 28 September: home to Sevilla.
Wednesday, 1 October: home to Marseille.

VAMOS ATLETI

Jornada 3: Atlético de Madrid v Recreativo de Huelva

((For those of us in the USA: This game will be televised (en vivo!) on Saturday on channel GolTV, 2.00pm (EST)))

First and foremost, this is a special fixture for Sinama as it is his first game against his ex-club, Recre– the club which signed him from Liverpool. Then, of course, there was Kun’s ‘hand of God’ incident.

OFFICIAL STARTING 11: Coupet, Seitaridis, Ujfalusi, Perea, Antonio López, Maniche, Raul García, Simão, Maxi, Sinama-Pongolle & Agüero.

SUBS: Leo Franco, Pablo, Pernía, Luis García, Assunção, Banega, Miguel.

INJURED: Forlán & Heitinga.

The same defence that lost against Valladolid! In terms of Heitinga, he is only mildly injured; from what I gather, he’s recovering from the few knocks that he picked up since international duty.

(It’s a  bit troubling to see that Camacho, one of our most talented canteranos, has not played at all this season…)

In any case, this is a MUST WIN game. Not only because we are playing at home and we have a stronger squad, but also because Recre reek of Segunda División this season.

AUPA ATLETI

Champions: PSV 0 Atlético de Madrid 3

 

Back to Champions, in style!

Leo Franco; Perea, Ujfalusi, Heitinga, Antonio López; Assunçao, Maniche (54′ Banega), Luis García, Simao; Forlán (31′ Sinama) & Agüero (63′ Raúl García).

THE GOOD
8′ Agüero, assisted by Luis García.
35’Agüero, great effort by Sinama.
53′ Maniche, great work by Simao & Luis García.

We played solidly for large portions of the game, particularly in defence. Attack-wise, we continued to pile on the pressure. For their part, PSV’s defence was…well, wobbly, to say the least.

THE BAD
Forlán will be out injured for a month. I wish him a speedy recovery! Until then, here’s hoping for a potent strike partnership between Kun & Sinama.

AFTER MATCHDAY 1…

Group D
Atlético 3
Liverpool 3
Marseille 0
PSV 0

AUPA ATLETI

Champions: PSV Eindhoven v Atlético de Madrid

I’ve finally recovered from that disastrous 2-1 loss to Valladolid.

ONWARDS.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE FINALLY!

Players experienced with Champions: Coupet, Forlán, Simao, Luis García, Seitaridis, Maniche, Assunçao, Heitinga, Sinama, & Leo Franco.

Excluded players: Maxi & Pernía (suspension) and Pablo (injury).
Is anyone else relieved that Pernía & Pablo WON’T be available?!

[Update] STARTING 11: Leo Franco; Perea, Ujfalusi, Heitinga, Antonio López; Paulo Assunçao, Maniche, Luis García, Simao; Forlán & Agüero.

SUBS: Coupet, Seitaridis, Raúl García, Sinama-Pongolle, Banega, Miguel, Camacho.

Looks good to me!

AUPA ATLETI

Thoughts & comments on the game can be shared in this entry!

Jornada 2: Real Valladolid v Atlético de Madrid

Liga is finally back, thankfully, after a week of World Cup qualifiers.

“FIFA VIRUS”
Atleti players who served for their respective national teams (8 in total): Ujfalusi, Kun, Forlán, Perea, Seitaridis, Maniche, Simao, Heitinga. Plus, Raúl García has been active with the Spain U-21 team.

A LOT of key players will be returning to Spain exhausted from international duty, particularly those who had to travel to South America. The press suggests that Aguirre will tinker with the starting 11 to give certain players a rest. For instance, Sinama & Luis García might start in place of Kun & Forlán. Seitaridis might find himself in the starting 11 as well. Raúl García is certain to occupy a midfield spot alongside Maniche or Assunçao. Ujfalusi, Heitinga & Simao should be set to maintain their starting 11 positions.

All of this should be confirmed soon enough!

For their part, Valladolid are coming off of a 1-0 away loss to Espanyol. They will be without  García Calvo & Iñaki Bea due to injury.

[UPDATE, 12-September]
STARTING 11 DEFINITES: Coupet, Seitaridis, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernía, Assunçao, Maniche, Maxi & Simão.

Luís García, Kun, and/or Sinama will be selected as strikers, as expected.

SUBS: Antonio López, Pernía, Raúl García, Miguel, Perea, Pablo, Camacho, Leo Franco.

NOTABLE OMISSIONS: FORLAN & BANEGA.

Heitinga & Ujfalusi arrived to training with minor knocks picked up from international duty, according to Aguirre.