Preview: Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

Villarreal and Atletico Madrid will lock horns in the final match of the 2025-26 La Liga campaign on Sunday night, and third spot in the division is on the line.

The home team are currently third in the La Liga table, level on points with fourth-placed Atletico, with the visitors only needing a draw at Estadio de la Ceramica in order to move above their opponents.

Match preview

Villarreal looked to have wrapped up third spot in the table when they thumped Levante 5-1 at the start of May, but the Yellow Submarine have only managed to pick up one point from their last three games, drawing with Mallorca before losing to Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano.

Marcelino's side are still third at this moment in time, and a win over Atletico would see them finish in that position, but a draw or a defeat would allow Diego Simeone's side to finish above them.

Indeed, in the scenario of a draw, head-to-head points would come into play, and Atletico beat Villarreal 2-0 in the reverse game in Madrid earlier this season; Villarreal are currently third in the division due to the fact that head-to-head points are not live until all the matches between the two teams have been played.

Third or fourth still represents an excellent campaign for the Yellow Submarine, but there will be a change in the dug-out this summer, with Marcelino set to move on, and it is understood that Rayo Vallecano's Inigo Perez will be his replacement.

Villarreal have the fourth-best home record in La Liga this season, picking up 43 points from 18 matches, and they will be looking to finish their campaign on a high.

Atletico, as mentioned, know that a point would be enough for them to claim third, but it has been a disappointing league campaign for the Red and Whites, who have been nowhere near the title.

Indeed, Simeone's side have a record of 21 wins, six draws and 10 defeats from their 37 league matches this season, with 69 points leaving them 25 points off the champions Barcelona.

Atletico just lost out to Arsenal in the semi-finals of the Champions League, while they were beaten by Real Sociedad in the final of the Copa del Rey, so it has been a tough few weeks for the club.

Simeone's team will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Girona, and they are looking to end their campaign with three straight wins, having also beaten Osasuna on May 12.

Atletico have locked horns with Villarreal on 49 occasions throughout history, and they just about lead the head-to-head 17 wins to 16, while 16 of their matches have finished level.

Villarreal La Liga form:

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Atletico Madrid La Liga form:

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Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

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Team News

Villarreal will once again be without the services of Pau Cabanes and Juan Foyth on Sunday through injury, but Renato Veiga will return to the squad following a suspension.

Head coach Marcelino made a number of changes to his side for the clash with Rayo Vallecano last time out, but the likes of Luiz Junior, Georges Mikautadze, Gerard Moreno, Dani Parejo and Nicolas Pepe should all be back in the side for the game with Atletico.

Ayoze Perez has struggled with fitness problems this season, only finding the back of the net on three occasions in the league, and the Spaniard is expected to start on the bench here.

As for Atletico, Rodrigo Mendoza, Nahuel Molina and Johnny Cardoso are definitely out of the match due to injury problems, while Jose Gimenez, Julian Alvarez, Nico Gonzalez and Pablo Barrios are major doubts.

Marcos Llorente will be back in the squad after serving a suspension against Girona last time out, but Robin Le Normand will serve a one-game ban this weekend.

This match will mark Antoine Griezmann's farewell, as the experienced attacker prepares to leave Atletico to make the move to MLS outfit Orlando City.

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Luiz Junior; Mourino, Veiga, Marin, Pedraza; Pepe, Parejo, Gueye, Moleiro; G Moreno, Mikautadze

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri; Baena, Koke, Almada; Lookman, Griezmann, Simeone

We say: Villarreal 1-1 Atletico Madrid

A point is good enough for Atletico to finish third on the head-to-head record, and we are expecting Simeone's side to secure a share of the spoils in their final match of the campaign.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.