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2024-25 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 29
Espanyol v Atletico Madrid
RCDE Stadium
Barcelona, Spain
Saturday, 29 March 2025
Kick-off is at 17h15
Atletico Madrid will be looking to get their
La Liga title challenge back on track when they travel to Catalonia for a clash with Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday, March 29.
Los Colchoneros have fallen four points behind frontrunners Barcelona and Real Madrid in third place after suffering back-to-back defeats before the international break.
Diego Simeone's side saw a six-match unbeaten run come to an end with a 2-1 reverse to Getafe on March 9 and they slumped to a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Blaugrana seven days later.
Atletico are almost certainly guaranteed a top-four finish, although they face competition from Athletic Bilbao for third spot as the Lions trail them by just four points.
The Parakeets are just about keeping their heads above water as they find themselves firmly in a relegation scrap with four other teams.
Manolo Gonzalez's side have won just one of their last five league encounters and a 2-1 defeat to Real Mallorca on March 15 left them down in 15th position, level on 28 points with Valencia (16th) and only one point clear of the drop zone.
Las Palmas (19th), Leganes (18th) and Alaves (17th) are the other three clubs fighting for survival, with just two points separating the trio.
Simeone acknowledges that Barca are favourites to lift the league title, but he will continue to push their rivals and take it game by game in a bid to stay in touch with the top two.
"Barca has one game in hand, and we never know what might happen. They have a significant advantage; we're aware of that," he said.
"We'll take it one game at a time, focusing on Espanyol and continuing on that path until the end."
Edu Exposito revealed the squad was fuming after Mallorca were awarded a late penalty following a VAR review, while Espanyol didn't get the same treatment earlier in the match.
"At the end of the match, we didn't understand anything. The team were very hurt, from experiencing something we'd never experienced before," Exposito said.
"It was a difficult moment. We needed explanations to understand what was happening and the VAR reviews that gave Mallorca a penalty, whilst the incident involving Jofre wasn't reviewed.
"The dressing room is angry about this situation, but we have to look ahead to the next game. We have a week off, and it will be very good for us to refresh."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Espanyol - 0
Atletico - 2
Draws - 3
La Liga Matchday 29 fixtures:
Saturday, March 29
15h00: Real Sociedad v Real Valladolid
17h15: Espanyol v Atletico Madrid
19h30: Alaves v Rayo Vallecano
22h00: Real Madrid v Leganes
Sunday, March 30
14h00: Getafe v Villarreal
16h15: Barcelona v Girona
18h30: Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna
18h30: Valencia v Real Mallorca
21h00: Real Betis v Sevilla
Monday, March 31
21h00: Celta Vigo v Las Palmas
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