With the vacancy practically assured, Atletico Madrid will receive on Tuesday, January 9, Lleida in the return match of the round of the 2017/2018 edition of the King’s Cup of Spain. At the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, the duel begins scheduled for 16:30 (Brasilia time).
In the first game, in Lleida, Atletico thrashed by 4-0. Thus, it can even lose by three goals difference that will still advance to the next phase.

The recent performance of Atletico Madrid

That should cause coach Diego Simeone to scale a team almost entirely made up of reserves. After all, there is no need to expose your top athletes to the wear and tear of bruises before the next day’s match against Eibar for the Spanish Championship.
It will be the closing of the first round of LaLiga and Atletico have proved to be the main rival of Barcelona in the fight for the title. On Saturday, January 6, at home, the team surpassed Getafe, by 2 to 0, remaining in the vice-leadership. He has 39 points (11 wins, 6 draws and a loss). The difference for Barca is nine points.
Once again the naturalized Spaniard Diego Costa rocked the net. He had already scored a goal in his re-play game, just the match against Lleida. Of the athletes that can be considered holders is the only one that is practically certain escalation this Tuesday. He was sent off to receive the second yellow card for an exaggerated celebration in the game against Getafe and will not be able to play in front of Eibar.
Thus, there is no justification for being spared the second meeting with Lleida. Even because he has not played for more than six months since being dismissed by Chelsea at the end of the previous season and had to wait for the end of the one year sentence imposed on Atletico Madrid by Fifa (International Football Federation) to be registered by Spanish club.
The great advantage in the Copa del Rey allows more time for the recovery of left-back Brazilian Filipe Luís (12 games in the Spanish 2017/2018, one goal) and Argentine midfielder Nicolas Gaitan (six games, no goal), which are in process of recovery of injury.

The current form of Lleida
Lleida also took to the pitch on Saturday and broke a four-match sequence (two draws and two losses) without a win. At home, he beat Badalona by 2 to 0 in a game that was part of the schedule of the 20th round of Group 3 of the Second Division B, which, in fact, is the Third Division of the Spanish Championship.
With 27 points (six wins, nine draws and five losses), Lleida is in ninth place. In this stage, the top four places in each group guarantee the classification for the next phase. This block is closed by Elche, which has four more points. Thus, with another 18 rounds to be held, Lleida continues in the fight for the classification and the fight to get a place in LaLiga2.
That makes the departure of this Tuesday also lose in importance for the club, which can not count on defender Marc Trilles. He received a red card for a violent game already in the first leg of the first leg against Atletico Madrid and will have to comply with automatic suspension.

History of the bouts between Atlético de Madrid and Lleida
The first leg of the 2017/2018 edition of the Spanish King’s Cup was the first involving the teams.
The format that requires round-robin games at this stage of the King’s Cup often requires absolutely useless games such as this Tuesday’s duel. Lleida knows they have no real chance of reversing the result. Thus, the completion of the game is a mere formality.
Even with the reserve team Atletico remains the favorite and the best option to guess. It has a price of 1.08 in Rivalo. Draw shows return of 11.00 and successful visitor multiplies the investment by 22.00.