The 1-1 draw followed an impressive 1-3 win at Sevilla to open the season and finishing in the Champions League places has to be a minimum expectation for the club this season. Even losing Falcao won't have reduced so expectations as Diego Costa scored twice last weekend and David Villa opened his account with Atletico thanks to a special finish against Barcelona during the week.
It was Atletico's home form that propelled them to 3rd in La Liga last season as they won 14 of their 19 League games at home. The side won every all of their home games against sides that finished 6th or lower in the League table, going 14-1-0 in those games. Atletico have, however, won just 1 of their last 7 home games in all competitions.
Rayo Vallecano
It can't be easy being the third team in a city that already counts Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as home teams, but that is the situation for Rayo Vallecano. The fans must be happy being in the same company as the two bigger teams from Madrid and they have held their own in La Liga following promotion three years and they have finished 15th and 8th in the previous two years.
Rayo Vallecano made a strong start to the new season with a 3-0 win over newly-promoted Elche at home and it is in their own stadium that Vallecano will look to build a foundation for success this year. In saying that, the side did win an impressive 7 away games in La Liga last season and only the top four clubs won more games on their travels, although Rayo did lose 10 times too.
They have begun this season as they ended last season which means Vallecano are unbeaten in their last 5 La Liga games and have won 4 of those games. Rayo Vallecano have won their last 2 away games in the
Rayo Vallecano snapped a run of 10 games against Atletico Madrid without a win by beating them 2-1 at home in their most recent meeting.
Vallecano haven't won any of their last 5 visits to the Vicente Calderon and it is Atletico Madrid who have won the last 3 games here.
Last season, Atletico won this fixture 4-3, although were leading 4-0 with seven minutes left before almost a huge comeback from Rayo threatened to cause the upset.
This is one of the tougher away grounds to visit at the moment and it is a big ask for Rayo Vallecano to beat their local rivals after they lost all 4 games at the top four last season.
However, Vallecano did win at Valencia, Malaga and Real Betis so are no pushover, while I am not sure the fans would have forgotten how the team recovered from 4-0 down to almost pull level last season at the Vicente Calderon.
Atletico Madrid will surely be a little more prepared for the never say die attitude that Rayo will bring this time and I believe the home side will be a little too strong for them. The last three games here have all resulted in home wins and I will back Atletico Madrid to win this one by at least 2 goals.
