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Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid Photograph: (https://shorturl.at/ezQo6)
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are now tied for first place in La Liga with 38 points. On Saturday night, they will face off in a significant match, and whoever wins will secure first place in the league until 2025.
Barcelona leads the league on goal differential, but Diego Simeone's Atletico are riding an astonishing 11-game winning streak across all competitions. They have a game in hand on Barcelona, making them the form club going into this match.
Previous Matches and Head-to-head
Barcelona leads the league on goal differential with 38 points after 18 La Liga matches. However, they played more games in second and third place than Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Real Madrid is only one point behind Barcelona in the next round of fixtures in Spain's top flight.
Despite the Catalan team's early season record indicating they may easily win the league this year, they have struggled to find the back of the net, losing three of their past six league matches.
Having lost their last encounter at their temporary home to Las Palmas and Leganes, Hansi Flick's squad was startled by Leganes in their most recent outing, a 1-0 loss.
Considering everything that has happened this term, Barcelona's disappointing third-place finish in the Champions League standings at the end of 2024 would be a significant letdown. Currently, they sit in second place, three points behind leaders Liverpool, so it has been a very successful first half of the campaign.
Barcelona is riding a five-game winning streak over Atletico Madrid, including a 1-0 triumph in the same encounter last season. Atletico hasn't won a league game on the road against Barcelona since February 2006.
The capital heavyweights have been challenged in this match recently, as Atletico Madrid has not scored a league goal against Barcelona since February 2022, and their last top-flight victory against Saturday's opponents came in October 2021.
To be sure, Simeone's squad is riding high heading into the encounter. They've won their past eleven matches across all competitions, including six straight league meetings against teams like Real Valladolid, Sevilla, Getafe, Mallorca, Alaves, and Las Palmas.
Last time out, Atletico Madrid moved into second place in the standings, tied with Barcelona on points, and with a game in hand thanks to a goal scored by substitute Alexander Sorloth against Getafe.
Along with Real Sociedad, Atletico has the best defensive record this season, with 11 goals allowed. In 2024–25, Antoine Griezmann, Sorloth, and Julian Alvarez have scored 19 goals in the league.
A win on Saturday would send a strong statement, and Rojiblancos deserve to bed as contenders despite losing their last of eleven La Liga championships in 2020–21.
Barcelona x Atletico Madrid Team News
The 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who has been in superb form again this season, will be out of action for Barcelona until early 2025 owing to an ankle injury.
While Ansu Fati and Andreas Christensen are both with the Catalan giants on the verge of returning to the team, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Ronald Araujo is anticipated to be included among the Saturday night match replacements despite returning to health after a long layoff due to a hamstring ailment that necessitated surgery.
While Dani Olmo moves into a more expansive role and Pau Cubarsi returns to the center of defense, Fermin Lopez may get playing time while Yamal is injured. Frenkie de Jong and Gavi, however, will remain on the bench.
Regarding Atletico, Simeone now has a complete roster thanks to Thomas Lemar's return to health; there have been no new reports of injuries or illnesses leading up to this weekend's match.
Conor Gallagher is expected to make a wide-area comeback, causing Samuel Lino to be benched. Head coach Diego Simeone contemplates making only one change from the starting lineup that faced Getafe.
After scoring against Getafe, Sorloth will likely be used as a substitute. Griezmann and Alvarez are set to start up front, while Koke will not start this weekend.
Our Predictions
Full time draw @ 3.90 on Sky247.ng
No one should be surprised if either team wins at home or on the road this Saturday. However, with both managers seeing a draw as a good result, this could be a nail-biter that ends in a draw, giving Real Madrid a chance to finish the season atop the league.
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