Atletico Madrid will take on Ponferradina in a mid-season friendly on Wednesday evening, with Diego Simeone's side preparing for the return of competitive action.
The Red and Whites will take on Arenteiro in the second round of the Copa del Rey on December 22 before returning to La Liga action at home to Elche on December 29.
Match preview
Ponferradina play their league football in the Segunda Division - the second tier in Spain - with the team currently in their fourth straight season at this level following their promotion from the third tier in 2018-19.
Unlike Atletico, La Deportiva have not had a break in their season, with the team continuing their league campaign as normal, and they will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Lugo on Sunday.
A total of 21 points from 20 matches has left Ponferradina in 18th position in the table, and they have a big league game away to Mirandes three days after this contest, so head coach David Gallego will need to rotate his squad for what is a glamour friendly with one of the biggest sides in Spain.
Los Blanquiazules have never played in Spain's top flight, but they have finished eighth in their last two Segunda Division campaigns and were only five points off the playoff positions last term.
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Atletico, meanwhile, were last in action on November 12, recording a 2-0 victory over Almazan in the first round of the Copa del Rey, with Angel Correa and Joao Felix on the scoresheet.
The Red and Whites were in disappointing form ahead of the break for the World Cup, though, only picking up one point from their last three La Liga matches, which included defeats to Cadiz and Mallorca.
Simeone's team are currently fifth in the La Liga table, while they finished bottom of their Champions League group behind Porto, Club Brugge and Bayer Leverkusen.
Atletico, who have had a number of players at the 2022 World Cup, will be back in competitive action against Arenteiro in the Copa del Rey on December 22 before returning to La Liga action at home to Elche on December 29, which will represent their final match of the year.
The capital outfit will then begin 2023 at home to Barcelona in La Liga, and there will certainly be pressure on Simeone's side to perform following their disappointing start to the 2022-23 campaign.
Team News
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Ponferradina boss Gallego will be looking to make full use of his squad for this match, so it would not be a surprise to see two different XIs take to the field for the mid-season friendly.
Jose Naranjo, who hit the winner against Lugo in the league at the weekend, is likely to be in the side despite receiving a red card in his last appearance.
Edu Espiau and Jose Amo are also likely to be among the starters, while Hugo Vallejo is also expected to be handed a spot in the XI.
As for Atletico, Nahuel Molina, Rodrigo De Paul, Correa, Antoine Griezmann and Ivo Grbic are still at the World Cup, with Argentina, France and Croatia in the semi-finals of the competition.
Koke, Alvaro Morata, Marcos Llorente, Yannick Carrasco, Axel Witsel, Jose Gimenez and Felix have also been in action at the tournament.
Atletico boss Simeone will still be able to name a strong side for this match, though, with the likes of Stefan Savic, Sergio Reguilon, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Saul Niguez and Thomas Lemar set to feature.
Ponferradina possible starting lineup:
Abedzadeh; Adot, Pascanu, Amo, Delgado; Vallejo, Medina, Dieguez, Naranjo; Yuri, Espiau
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Reinildo, Savic, Hermoso, Reguilon; Kondogbia, Saul, Moreno; Lemar, Cunha, Martin
We say: Ponferradina 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Ponferradina will certainly provide stern opposition for Atletico, which is exactly what Simeone will want ahead of the return of competitive action. It would not be a shock to see the home side triumph here, but we just have a feeling that Atletico's quality will see them run out narrow winners.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
