Madrid (Spain), Nov 8 (IANS): Atletico Madrid travel to Mallorca on Wednesday desperate for a result to stop them from going into the long break for the World Cup in crisis.
Diego Simeone is under the spotlight after Atletico were knocked out of Europe, failing to even secure a place in the Europa League from their Champions League group last week. A home match against Espanyol offered a chance of redemption on Sunday, but despite playing against 10 men for over an hour, Atletico struggled to a 1-1 draw thanks to a goal from Joao Felix.
The relationship between the Portuguese forward and Simeone seems to be getting worse, with Joao producing moments of magic but mixing them with long periods of the kind of lethargy that goes against the coach's football philosophy.
It will be interesting if Joao is in the Atletico starting line-up for what promises to be a tight game in Mallorca, while one thing is certain: the Atletico defense will have to be alert to Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi, who has 7 goals this season.
A win will allow some calm to return to Atletico, but another disappointment will increase the pressure on Simeone ahead of six weeks without another game.
Sevilla took a valuable point from a bruising Seville derby away to local rivals Betis on Sunday night, but Jorge Sampaoli's men now need to work on their home form and take their first league win in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium if they are to climb away from the relegation zone, reports Xinhua.
Real Sociedad don't look like the ideal rivals to do that, with the Basque side sixth in the table. The game will see former Sevilla striker Carlos Fernandez face his former club, while Adnan Januzaj could face Real Sociedad after they decided not to extend his contract last season.
Villarreal coach Quique Setien is under pressure after just two weeks in charge, with fans calling for him to go after Sunday's defeat to Mallorca. Setien's passing game hasn't worked so far and he needs an improvement away to Espanyol in what is striker Gerard Moreno's last chance to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Wednesday's final game sees Almeria at home to Getafe, with both sides needing points to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three.