Atletico Madrid host Villarreal on Matchday 25 of this La Liga season, where both sides will have one eye on the domestic league and one on European competition.
Bookending their trip to the Vicente Calderon, the Yellow Submarine will be playing a two-legged tie against Italian heavyweights Napoli, while Atleti will travel to the Netherlands to play the first leg of their round of 16 tie with PSV just three days after the visit of Villarreal.
Both sides go into this league clash in good form, Diego Simeone’s side sit second in the table, a point ahead of city rivals Real, and Villarreal currently sit in fourth on a run of 11 matches without defeat.
The question now for both is if their European commitments will affect their league form.
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It could be argued that Villarreal, despite being in the second tier of European competition, have the tougher task to overcome.
Napoli sit second in the Italian Serie A and have won nine out of their last 11 matches in all competitions. Maurizio Sarri’s men are the league’s top scorers and boast some of the competition’s best players in the form of Marek Hamsik, Lorenzo Insigne and Serie A’s top goal scorer Gonzalo Higuain.
With his 24 league goals, Higuain leads the race for the European Golden Shoe, ahead of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez.
To make matters worse for the Yellow Submarine, in preparation for their match against Los Colchoneros they play Napoli just 72 hours prior to kick-off in Madrid.
Atleti are more at luxury in that respect as they have had a full week of preparation since their 1-0 victory over Getafe. Their problems may not be as evident in the league fixture as they may be in their Champions League tie in Holland, as it is only then that the short turnaround will come into effect.
PSV are not the powerhouse of yesteryear and Atletico will enter the match as favourites, but having qualified out of a group that contained Wolfsburg, Manchester United and CSKA Moscow. they will be no pushovers.
What may be telling for both teams is how the clubs preference their league and European commitments.
In the league neither team will want to let up on their good run, as Atleti are still in with a shot at the title if they can pin back a rampant Barcelona and Villarreal sit in fourth with the almighty possibility of Champions League qualification in their grasp.
Compound that with their European interests and things get trickier for one side over the other.
Atleti, with a perfectly winnable tie against PSV, look to be almost a sure thing for the quarter-finals at which point they must be considered one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
Having come so close in 2014, Simeone’s men will be itching for another shot in Milan. Furthered progress in the competition may have an adverse effect on their league form and that may begin with their match against Villarreal.
The Yellow Submarine, in contrast to their countrymen, seem much more of a long shot of taking home European glory. If they get past Napoli, which is a mighty big if, the teams left in the competition will still pose a challenge to the Valencia-based outfit.
Potential quarter-final match-ups against one of Tottenham or Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund or Porto, plus the likes of Manchester United and cup holders Sevilla, mean that Villarreal will likely enter as second favourite against whoever they draw.
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With this in mind, Marcelino may prioritise the league as more valuable to his team than the Europa competition, thus putting more focus on their match will Atletico than on either match with Napoli.
Villarreal’s lack of depth is their biggest issue at this point, more so than any damage Napoli can inflict on a scoreboard. Marcelino likes to stick with his first choice league XI and has a team which plays in the cup, but there are several players that overlap and that could have real implications against a team like Atletico.
Diego Simeone’s men are known for the hard pressing, high tempo running and their ability to stop other teams from breaking them down. If Villarreal enter this match with a tired team that has played only three days prior, than that could spell disaster.
Purely for this match Atletico Madrid have the advantage. A bigger break between showing and an easier tie in Europe means they will enter as the fresher team. Going forward the pressure will be on Simeone’s team to balance both competitions and it will likely have an impact on their league form, handing the team just six points below them, Villarreal, the benefits.
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