Girona vs Atletico Madrid: La Liga Predictions & Betting Tips

Girona takes on rivals Atletico Madrid in La Liga action on August 25 ahead of their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign. Both teams will learn their opponents for the newly formatted ‘league phase’ of the competition in next week’s draw following a superb 2023/24 for Girona. Michel Sanchez led his side to a first top four finish, ending the campaign in third place, five points ahead of Atletico Madrid. It was the first time a team outside ‘Spain’s Big Three’ finished higher than fourth since Valencia in 2011/12.

Ahead of their meeting in the Spanish capital, Sanchez hailed his opposite number Diego Simeone, and claimed Los Rojiblancos’ summer spending will power a title challenge in 2025. “Simeone has made Atletico into one of the top teams in the world. They are always in the Champions League, have won titles, and stabilised at the highest level”, as per reports from Diario AS. “This year they’ve made some very good signings and I think they are a title candidate.”

Simeone has splashed the cash over the summer, as he looks to keep pace with his rivals, with over €180m spent on new players and the potential for more before the transfer window closes on August 30.

Atletico Madrid vs Girona: Pre-match Analysis

Diego Simeone is currently the longest-serving manager in La Liga, and will oversee his 14th season in charge in Madrid. He has delivered incredibly consistent results, finishing top four in each of the last 12 consecutive league campaigns.

Meanwhile, Girona just achieved their most successful season after finishing third in the league on 81 points, scoring 85 goals in the process. Having been picked apart over the summer, losing key players, it seems unlikely that manager Michel can pull of a similar accomplishment.

Atletico Madrid vs Girona: Betting Tips

This weekend sees all of Europe’s major leagues in action, luckily we have all your football betting prediction needs covered. This includes La Liga accumulator tips across all the action, La Liga tips and European betting predictions to spice up your weekly punting.

Here at Andy’s Bet Club, our experts are putting in the work day and night to provide you with the best content, including our both teams to score tips, as well as tips to help you craft your bet builders including card betting tips, player shots on target tips, and fouls betting predictions.

Atletico Madrid to Win @ 1.57 with Paddy Power

Atletico Madrid have been amongst the biggest spenders in Europe so far this summer, adding talented depth while streamlining the squad. They look in a much better position than Girona, who have let their star players of last season depart. With that in mind, paired with Diego Simeone’s phenomenal record at the Metropolitano Stadium which saw them win 16 out of 19 games last season, Atletico Madrid to Win at 1.57 looks another great price. Atletico Madrid hold a strong record over Girona, beating them in all three of the last matchups between the two at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.57 with Paddy Power

Girona had the highest average goals per game last season, with over 2.5 goals landing in 68% of their matches. Despite significant personnel changes, manager Michel will still look to play fluid, attacking football. Against Real Betis, Girona looked dangerous in the final 30 minutes, but vulnerable in transition. Given how both head-to-head games saw at least four goals last season, and over 4.0 xG in respective games, Over 2.5 goals at 1.57 looks a solid angle. 

This looks even stronger when considering, Girona averaged 3.45 match goals last season and Over 2.5 goals landed in 79% of home games for Atletico Madrid last season. In regards, to this matchup specfically there were 11 goals across two head to head games between Atletico Madrid and Girona last season.

Atletico Madrid vs Girona: Team News and Form

Atletico Madrid have been busy over the summer, particularly adding depth to their attack. Alexander Sorloth, who finished second in the La Liga scoring charts last season, has made the switch from Villarreal, although his starting spot is far from secure. He will face competition from the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Omordion and Julian Alvarez. The latter arrived from Man City in a deal worth £82 million. Euro 2024 winner Robin Le Normand has also been drafted in to shore up the defence. 

So far, the changes have been successful, as Atletico Madrid enjoyed an undefeated pre-season. They continued that run with a draw against Villarreal in their season opener. Atletico found themselves 1-0 down, before Marcos Llorente equalised just two minutes later. Koke poked the ball into his own net, and new signing Alexander Sorloth levelled the score once more just before the break. Julian Alvarez featured for the final ten minutes off the bench, as the game finished 2-2. On paper, Atletico look extremely well-rounded, so should be full of confidence. 

Girona topped Atletico Madrid to finish third in the league last season. It was the first time in 12 seasons that Diego Simeone’s Atletico allowed another team other than Barcelona or Real Madrid to finish above them.  However, they have lost a lot of the core squad from last season, including Artem Dovbyk, who scored the most goals in La Liga last season, and Savinho, who accumulated ten assists. Other key players in Yan Couto, Aleix Garcia and Eric Garcia have also departed.

Girona have been extremely active this summer with 18 arrivals, but pre-season has been underwhelming as the squad are yet to fully gel winning one in their last seven. In their opening game of the campaign, Girona rescued a point against Real Betis thanks to a goal from Gabriel Misehouy. Bryan Gil looked sharp on the right-wing, while Oriol Romeu really struggled as the holding midfielder. The former Barcelona man was hooked at the hour mark. 

Atletico Madrid vs Girona: Head-to-Head Record

Last season, this fixture finished 3-1 in favour of the home side, Atletico Madrid. Artem Dovbyk opened his account in just the fourth minute, before Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann helped Atletico overcome the deficit and take all three points. That scoreline fails to fully reflect how evenly-matched the two sides were at the Metropolitano Stadium, as Atletico created 2.4 xGF from 17 shots, compared to 2.39 xGA from Girona.

The reverse fixture provided even more goalmouth action, finishing 4-3 to Girona. Alvaro Morata, who departed Atletico over the summer, bagged a hat-trick, but his efforts were in vain as Ivan Martin stole the spoils in the 91st-minute. The underlying numbers reveal a similar story, as Atletico fashioned 2.29 xGF from 18 shots, while conceding 2.42 xGA from 17 shots. Perhaps the difference on the night was Paulo Gazzaniga, who made nine saves. 

• We recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

• All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.

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