Atletico Madrid v Levante: Correa desperate to start 2016 on a high
Angel Correa hopes Atletico Madrid can build on their win versus Rayo when they host Levante at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid attacker Angel Correa hopes to start 2016 on a high when they meet Levante on Saturday looking to keep pace with their Liga title rivals.
Diego Simeone's men recorded a hard-fought 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday in their last game of 2015, with Correa and Antoine Griezmann finding the net in the closing stages of the game, and the Argentine youngster wants them to build on their victory at the weekend.
Atletico sit second in the Liga table heading into the game, whereas Levante sit rock bottom after 17 games, but Correa has warned his team-mates they cannot afford to take the match lightly.
"We were very happy with the win over Rayo and to end the year on a high," Correa told the club's official website.
"We now have to build on our win over Rayo versus Levante.
"We are on the right path and must continue like this against Levante on Saturday. It will be a very difficult match for us."
The Vicente Calderon side have every reason to be confident heading into Saturday's match, though
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
They have won nine out of 10 games against Levante at home in the top tier, with a 0-0 draw in 2005 the only time Atleti did not bag the full three points. That scoreless draw was the only one in 20 La Liga games between the two teams.
This weekend's encounter could be the ideal encounter for Fernando Torres to end his goal drought and reach 100 goals for Atletico at last. The striker has been stuck on 99 strikes ever since finding the net in a 2-0 victory against Eibar on September 19, but he has scored three goals in his five games against Levante in the top tier.
Levante, meanwhile, will be well aware of the difficult task ahead as they aim to bring an end to their seven-game winless streak in all competitions.
They saw off Sporting Gijon 3-0 on November 22 courtesy of a double from Deyverson and Zouhair Feddal's strike, but have since lost five matches and drawn the remaining two.
If Levante are to get a good result, the aforementioned Deyverson will likely be their main danger man again with four goals in 2015-16 - even if he was benched for the 1-0 loss versus Malaga in midweek - with only Victor Camarasa scoring more than once in La Liga as well this campaign.