News
SÁB 07.12.2024
Saúl Ñíguez is returning to his former home in LALIGA EA SPORTS Matchday 16, taking on Atlético de Madrid, the club where he developed as a young footballer and man and where he enjoyed some of the greatest moments of his sporting career. When he was at his peak with Los Rojiblancos, Saúl was almost unstoppable.
He hasn’t faced Los Colchoneros since departing the club, but will return to the stadium in the capital city this weekend for a special match. The player who has always expressed his unconditional love for Atlético de Madrid is currently representing Sevilla FC, another of the biggest and most historic clubs in Spanish football.
The eighth player with the most appearances for Atlético de Madrid
Saúl is one of the greatest players in the capital city club’s history. He played 427 times in the Atleti shirt, scoring 48 goals and providing 26 assists. In LALIGA EA SPORTS alone he has played 295 times for the team, netting 30 goals and setting up 20 more. All of this makes him the eighth-top player in terms of the most appearances in Atlético de Madrid’s history, while he is their fifth-top appearance-maker if looking only at the Champions League, in which he played 74 games. In terms of LALIGA EA SPORTS, he is the 10th-top for appearances in Los Rojiblancos’ history.
The midfielder from Alicante has won six titles with Atlético de Madrid (one LALIGA EA SPORTS championship, two Europa League titles, one Spanish Super Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and one Copa del Rey), putting him in the top 10 of players with the most trophies with Los Colchoneros. In the final of the UEFA Super Cup that he won, Saúl scored a brilliant goal that put Atlético de Madrid ahead against Real Madrid to win that trophy. In addition to the titles, the academy graduate helped the team reach the Champions League final in the 2015/16 season, in which they were defeated by Real Madrid on penalties in Milan.
Sevilla FC’s 16 years without taking three points against Atlético de Madrid on the road
Sevilla FC have not won on their LALIGA EA SPORTS visits to Atlético de Madrid since September 28th 2008, when they secured a 1-0 victory thanks to a freekick from Luis Fabiano. Since then, Los Hispalenses haven’t managed to take three points off Los Colchoneros on their league visits, and have never won away at Atleti with Diego Simeone in the dugout.
The Andalusian outfit did manage to beat Atlético de Madrid away in the 2017/18 Copa del Rey, winning the away leg 2-1 to reach the semi-finals of that edition. They went all the way to the final that year, where they lost 5-0 to FC Barcelona in a match that was played at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. This weekend, García Pimienta’s charges, led on the pitch by Saúl, will try to break this bad run away at Atlético de Madrid and secure a victory that would inch them closer to the European positions. This promises to be a fascinating match, and it’ll be an extra special one for Saúl.
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