Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction, 02:30 September 25: Escaping the crisis

Pre-match comments Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano

Coach Diego Simeone and his team are having a very difficult start in La Liga 2025/2026. They have only had 1 win after 5 rounds and are outside the Top 10 of the tournament. The Madrid team is showing weaknesses in defense. This is considered unacceptable for coach Diego Simeone's team, which is famous for its ability to discourage the opponent's attacking players. The alarming performance of the defense with only 1 clean sheet since the beginning of the season has caused Atletico Madrid to lose points against much weaker opponents such as Elche, Alaves, Espanyol, Mallorca.

If Atletico Madrid continue to show poor form, they will likely continue to sink in the bottom half. Atletico Madrid's two opponents this week can completely make coach Diego Simeone's team taste defeat. The team at Riyadh Air Metropolitano will face Real Madrid at the weekend, but before that they will have to deal with Rayo Vallecano. Los Rojiblancos have the advantage of playing 2 consecutive home matches. Atletico Madrid need to take advantage of this, beat Rayo Vallecano to create a good mentality before the big battle with their great rival.

However, overcoming Rayo Vallecano is not easy because this is a very annoying opponent. They held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in round 3. That was a match that Rayo Vallecano could have won if Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia had not played so "miraculously". However, Atletico Madrid is still the team that is rated higher if considering the quality of the squad and they also receive support from past results. Rayo Vallecano have not been able to defeat Simeone's team since 2013 and the last time they won on Atletico Madrid's field was 24 years ago. This will be a support for Atletico Madrid to break the sad streak of recent matches.

Form, head-to-head history Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano

Both teams are in very unstable form this season. Atletico Madrid have only won 1/6 matches this season and have received 2 defeats, 3 draws. Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano's record is 1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses.

Atletico Madrid have been Rayo Vallecano's nemesis for over a decade. In the last 10 meetings, Simeone's side have won seven and drawn three.

Team information Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano have the best force.

Atletico Madrid are without Jose Gimenez, Alex Baena and Thiago Almada due to injury. Alexander Sorloth is suspended.

Expected lineup Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano

Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Hancko; Simeone, Koke, Barrios, Gallagher; Raspadori, Alvarez.

Rayo Vallecano: Batalla; Ratiu, Ciss, Lejeune, Espino; Valentin, Diaz; De Frutos, Palazon, Garcia; Camello.

Score prediction Atletico Madrid 2-1 Rayo Vallecano