The Blue and Whites, 9th place with 42 points, are up against the Red and Whites, 2nd place in the table with 79 points. In the first round match at La Rosaleda, a goal from Charles led Málaga to victory against the Colchoneros (1-0). The last match on the banks of the Manzanares river ended in a 3-1 victory for the locals, in the 12th match of 2014/15, with Atlético goals from Tiago, Griezmann and Godín, and a Malaguaista goal by Roque Santa Cruz.
To take into account
- MCF has scored 699 goals in their 15 seasons in the First Division (an average of 1,23 per match), and are one away from 700 in the elite.
- Atlético de Madrid accumulate 14 games without defeat at their home ground in League competition.
- Goal-scorer Torres. ‘El Niño’ has scored 4 goals in the last 4 LaLiga matches and is the best scorer in Atlético-Málaga games, also with 4 goals.
- The first Atlético-MCF match was the 33rd of the 1999/00 season (16th April 2000), ending in a 2-2 draw for Radomir Antic and Joaquín Peiró’s teams. Valerón and Solari scored for the Madrid side, whilst Rufete and Catanha netted the Blue and Whites’ goals.
- The best win in Madrid. Pellegrini’s Málaga secured a brilliant victory in the 35th match of the 2010/11 season by 0-3. Goal-scorers were Salomón Rondón, Julio Baptista and Enzo Maresca.
- Mateu Lahoz has refereed Málaga CF in LaLiga 9 times in away games, ending in 4 wins, 1 draw and 4 Malaguista defeats. He will referee his first Atlético-Malaga at the Calderón.
Players in common Atlético de Madrid-Málaga CF
Movilla, Cristian Díaz, Ruano, De los Santos, Musampa, Salva Ballesta, Diego Alonso, José Juan Luque, Molinero, Adrián López, Sergio Asenjo, Camacho, Demichelis and Jesús Gámez.
Players in common Atlético de Madrid-CD Málaga
Bachiller, Arana, Rafa, Laréu, Jimeno, Saso, Pastor, Quiralte, Lecue, Carbelo, Torres, Arnau, Méndez, Estruch, Tercero, Zamora, Vera, Ares, Chuzo, Rives, Orozco, Laguna, Salcedo, Juanito, Clemente, Ruiz and Jaro.
(*) In the list of players in common, there are some who formed part of Atlético de Madrid, but didn’t debut with the team for various reasons. Standout cases include the legendary Juan Gómez “Juanito” and more recently, Martín Demichelis.