Granada vs Atletico Madrid preview - Dominguez seeks maximum return

Posted Saturday, October 15, 2011 by PA

Atletico Madrid defender Alvaro Dominguez feels his side need to get maximum points from their next four Primera Division fixtures as the Rojiblancos look to claw back lost ground on the top teams.

Despite a heavy outlay on new players this summer, Atletico have had a sluggish start to the campaign and they find themselves down in eighth spot after six games, six points behind the leaders and five off the Champions League berths.

It is still early days in the season but Atletico will not want to slip too much further adrift of their rivals as they attempt to claim a top-four finish for the first time since 2009.

However, after facing the likes of Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla so far, Atletico now have what looks a more favourable run of fixtures against Granada, Real Mallorca, Athletic Bilbao and Real Zaragoza, and Dominguez wants a 100% return from those games.

He said: "In these next four or five league games we have to get all the points. This is the objective of the squad, to pick up every point and for this we have to start off winning in Granada. That's all there is to it.

"Almost every team is stronger at home than away (but), after two away defeats we have to start winning away if we want to be in the top four."

Granada find themselves in the bottom two heading into this weekend's fixtures after picking up just four points since their promotion back into the top flight, but Dominguez is not expecting it to be a stroll in the park for his side at Los Carmenes stadium.

"Granada are a good team and they are going to show it this season. Nobody is going to make it easy for us. We are going to have to fight whoever we face," he said.

Granada may be struggling at the wrong end of the table but their one victory so far this season was a notable one, downing last season's fourth-placed finishers Villarreal 1-0.

Fabri Gonzalez's men also pushed Valencia close last time out, going down to a solitary goal from Sergio Canales at the Mestalla, and defender Allan Nyom wants his team to match those two performances.

"Atletico are a good team, made up of a good individuals, and we have to try and continue doing things well and give the same image that we had against Valencia and Villarreal," he said on his club's website.

"We are going to give it everything. Los Carmenes is a difficult ground for opposing teams and we are going to try and get the three points."