FC Barcelona is going to face Atletico Madrid in one of the most important and decisive matches of the current La Liga season at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid still top La Liga, but the chasing pack is closing in Real Madrid and Barca both are level on points. The Los Blancos are in second place due to superior head-to-head results.
The Catalan club bounced back from the embarrassing 1-2 loss against Granada with a 2-3 win against Valencia at the Mestalla. Lionel Messi again had to come to the rescue as Barca’s leaky defense won’t stop conceding. Atletico too slipped as they lost to Athletic Bilbao and narrowly won on the weekend against Elche.
Unsurprisingly, Atletico again has the best defensive record in La Liga, conceding just 22 times in their 34 matches. Meanwhile, Barcelona boasts the best attack in La Liga with 80 goals scored this season. Atletico triumphed at the Camp Nou in the last game of the season when the title was on the line in 2013-14. Simeone will be hoping for a similar result on Saturday to clinch his second league title as manager.
Head to Head
Barca and Atletico have locked horns on 167 occasions in the league throughout history, and the Catalans lead the head to head with 75 victories compared to Atletico’s 51.
The teams faced each other in the reverse fixture at Wanda Metropolitano earlier this season. Atletico won the match 1-0with Yannick Carrasco’s first-half goal was the difference between the two sides. The points were shared in a 2-2 draw when the two teams met at the New Camp last season.
Predicted Teams
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Araujo, Pique, Lenglet; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Alba; Messi, Griezmann
Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Savic, Gimenez, Hermoso; Trippier, Llorente, Koke, Lemar, Carrasco; Suarez, Correa
Score Predictions
Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Both teams have been hit and miss at a certain stage in La Liga this season. Since Atletico Madrid has been dropping points in crunch situations this season, so it will not be a surprise if the Catalan club wins on Saturday.