Atletico de Madrid vs Osasuna preview - Torres backing new-look Atleti

Posted Sunday, August 28, 2011 by PA

Winger Juanfran Torres hopes new-look Atletico Madrid can build on their impressive Europa League play-off mauling of Vitoria with another triumph in their Primera Division opener against his former club Osasuna this weekend.

Following a memorable 2009-10 campaign when they won the Europa League and reached the final of the Copa del Rey, Atletico were brought crashing down to earth last term when they made little progress in the cups and could only finish seventh in La Liga.

In the wake of that disappointment, the team has undergone a major overhaul this summer, with coach Quique Sanchez Flores and key players Sergio Aguero, David De Gea and Tomas Ujfalusi all moving on, to be replaced by former Sevilla boss Gregorio Manzano and the likes of Spain Under-21 forward Adrian Lopez, Real Zaragoza captain Gabi, Turkey international Arda Turan and Portugal defender Silvio.

The club also splashed out a significant chunk of the money they received for Aguero and De Gea on prolific Colombian striker Falcao from Porto, with the total fee rising to a possible 47million euros.

Falcao was not part of the Atletico team that played in the Europa League play-off against Vitoria, but Manzano's men did not seem to need their club record-signing as they downed the Portuguese team 4-0 on Thursday to complete a 6-0 aggregate win.

Now, Juanfran wants his side to continue in that same fashion when Osasuna visit the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

"The team gave a very good image, both in the first leg and the second," said Juanfran, who joined Atletico from Osasuna in January.

"We've shown we are a solid team, that we are determined to do important things this season and what we want most is to continue along this line. That means beating Osasuna, then continue winning, gain confidence, and let the fans see that this year could be a nice one for Atletico Madrid."

Osasuna, having just avoided relegation in 2009, staged another great escape to avoid the drop last season after winning four of their final five matches - including victories over Valencia, Villarreal and Sevilla - to finish four points above the bottom three in ninth place.

Jose Luis Mendilibar's side have brought in freescoring striker Nino from Tenerife this summer and brought locally-born midfielder Raul Garcia back on loan from Atletico, but several established players have left, such as Javier Camunas, Nacho Monreal, Carlos Aranda and Walter Pandiani.