Atletico de Madrid vs Alaves - Alaves up against it - 7M sport

Atletico de Madrid vs Alaves - Alaves up against it



Posted Saturday, August 20, 2016 by PA

Alaves coach Mauricio Pellegrino concedes his side will not have the luxury of a quiet re-introduction into La Liga life after being paired against Atletico Madrid first up.

The Basque side were last seen at this level in the 2005/06 season, since when they have dropped down to the third tier of Spanish football before fighting their way back.

Their return journey to the first division was finally completed last term when they claimed the Segunda Division title, but they are among the favourites to go down and a testing-looking fixture list to start off with may not help their cause.

Alaves, UEFA Cup finalists in 2001, face Atletico, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla in their first four away matches, and Pellegrino admits it does not get much tougher than a trip to the Vicente Calderon to begin with.

He said of last season's Champions League finalists: "Today they are at the same level as Barcelona and Real Madrid. They've achieved that through money and a lot of hard work.

"We respect all our opponents but, in this case, we will have to give the maximum respect owing to the magnitude of our opponents.

"Our objective is to play a good game and show the work we've done in the last six weeks.

"We will have to play a very complete game, with a lot of concentration as we know Atleti are going to demand a lot of us."

Pellegrino added on www.cadenaser.com: "We're looking forward to the season starting. That Alaves have returned to the Primera Division is great news. The club are in a crucial moment in their history."

While Alaves will be aiming for survival as their primary objective, Atletico boss Diego Simeone understandably has much loftier aims - although he has stopped short of setting his side any trophy targets.

In his five years in charge of the Rojiblancos Simeone has helped Atletico win five pieces of silverware and reach two Champions League finals, but his pre-season goal for this term is simply to carry on getting better.

He told a press conference: "The objective is to continue improving, to improve on the numbers of last season, gain more points and aspire to do our best in all competitions.

"It will not be easy because there are big competitors but we feel strong.

"Clearly, getting into the Champions League is always the aim."

Atletico are without star striker Antoine Griezmann through suspension and back-up goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya because of injury, but new signings Kevin Gameiro, Nicolas Gaitan and Andre Moreira are named in a 19-man squad.

Alaves must do without the banned Deyverson while on-loan Atletico defender Theo Hernndez will not be able to face his parent club.



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