Atletico Madrid return to La Liga on Saturday against Sevilla after beating Barcelona 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Camp Nou on Wednesday night. The trip to Estadio Ramon drops Diego Simeone’s side back into a league race they cannot afford to lose ground in, even with bigger games still ahead.
Atletico are fourth in the table and 12 points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, while Sevilla are 17th and two points outside the relegation zone. That gap tells the story of where both clubs are living right now. One is trying to hold position across three competitions. The other is trying to keep itself from sliding into the second division for a second straight season in all but name.
Sevilla have 31 points from 30 matches and have won only one of their last eight La Liga fixtures. They have also lost their last three league games, against Barcelona, Valencia and Real Oviedo, and sit with the second-worst home record in the division. At home this season, they have taken 16 points from 15 matches and suffered seven defeats. For a side that finished 17th last season and stayed up by a single point, every dropped point now carries the same blunt consequence: more pressure and less margin.
Read Also: Alexander Sørloth leads Atlético Madrid to 2-0 shock at Camp Nou
The reverse meeting earlier this season ended in a 3-0 Atletico win, and Simeone’s team have lost only once to Sevilla since December 2021. They also won 2-1 at Estadio Ramon last term, a record that gives them a clear edge on paper even as they arrive with their own problems. Atletico have lost their last two La Liga matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona, a reminder that the league campaign has not always tracked their ambitions in Europe and the cup.
Sevilla will be without Marcao through injury, while Tanguy Nianzou and Jose Angel Carmona are suspended. Cesar Azpilicueta needs to be assessed before a final decision is made on his fitness, and Lucien Agoume returns after missing the defeat to Real Oviedo because of a ban. Atletico also have absences to manage, with Koke and Nico Gonzalez suspended and Jose Gimenez, Johnny Cardoso, Pablo Barrios and David Hancko all injury doubts.
Read Also: Fcb and Atlético Madrid set for fifth meeting in a frantic 2025-26 run
The fixture lands at a telling point for both clubs. Atletico are still fighting in La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, with Barcelona due in the second leg next week and Real Sociedad waiting in the final next weekend. Sevilla, by contrast, are back in the kind of match where survival form matters more than reputation. If they cannot use home ground to slow Atletico now, the table says the last stretch of the season may become a race they cannot control.
