The fixtures for the upcoming season have been announced, and Atleti will start the defence of their Spanish crown away to Rayo Vallecano, in a Madrid derby, on the weekend of the 24th August.
In the same fixture last season, Atleti ran out 4-2 winners with two goals from Arda Turan the stand-out moment.
This trip is followed by a home game against newly-promoted Seguna champions Eibar at the Vicente Calderón.
Then, after an international break of nearly two-weeks, the first headline match of Atleti’s season takes place in round 3 at the Bernabeu, where Atético take on Real Madrid for the first time as champions in nearly 20 years.
The same match last season ended in a rojiblanco win, the sole goal coming from Diego Costa. Atleti won’t be able to rely on their Brazilian-turned-Spanish striker this time though – and we will have to rely on the skill of others to hand them another derby-day victory.
The return leg takes place on the weekend of the 8th February 2015.
Our first match against Barcelona since the cup final at the Camp Nou takes place in round 8, on the weekend of the 19th October 2014.
This time, our last game of the season isn’t against Barca. Instead we face an away trip to Granada on the weekend of 24th May 2015.
We do, however, still have a home game against our Catalan rivals on round 37, just a week before the end of the season.
Other key matches include the return of Deportivo to the Calderón in round 13, and our first match against Barca won’t come until January next year.
Of course, the Spanish football federation can move these fixtures at any time, for TV rights, and because they feel like it.
The full list of fixtures can be found here.
First six games:
Rayo Vallecano (a)
Eibar (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Celta Vigo (h)
Almeria (a)
Sevilla (h)
What do you make of the start to our season?