One of the most exciting matches of the whole football season is set to unfold at Vicente Calderon, where Atletico Madrid host Barcelona.
Barcelona are shaken – after being undefeated in 39 matches in a row, they have now suffered two defeats and took only one point of the possible nine from their last three La Liga games. Now they travel to Calderon in what will be a season defining game, or one of those at very least. It’s hard to fully comprehend how important this fixture could be for both sides from the form, morale and pride standpoint, seeing that the recent Barca slip just but allowed Atleti to close the gap in La Liga and challenge Luis Enrique squad in their hunt for another treble.
The stakes are high on the both sides, however. Just to issue a reminder, if Atletico are to progress into the semi-finals, they must to do something that they have not managed since April 2014 – beat Barcelona. A simple draw wouldn’t suffice, Simeone’s men must enter the match with a will and strength to get a victory, but that is the environment Barcelona excels at, seeing how deadly their counter-attacking threat is with MSN trio up front, ready to raise their form again.
For Atletico, it would grant such a momentum for La Liga title race if they could prove to themselves and the world they could defeat Barcelona and progress here. But the Catalans also need momentum, something defeats against Real Madrid and Real Sociedad seem to have taken from them. Although players, fans and media in Catalonia are racing to prove they are not worried, and are still holding things firmly in their hands, there is a distant ‘what if’ that could as well unfold at Vicente Calderon in this meeting. The truth is, Barcelona are frantic with worry.
Predicted lineups:
Atletico Madrid: Oblak – Juanfran, Godin, Lucas, Filipe Luis – Fernandez, Saul, Gabi, Koke, Carrasco; Griezmann.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen – Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Neymar, Suarez, Messi.
Head to Head:
Atletico and Barcelona have met 223 times in history with the Catalan side winning 101 of those encounters. In the UEFA Champions League they’ve locked horns three times including the last week’s meeting, and the score is perfectly even – one draw and one win apiece.
Match facts:
- 52% of teams who have won 2-1 at home in the first leg of a Champions League game have gone on to progress to the next round (11 out of 21), including the last four of those.
- Barcelona have won their last seven games against Atletico Madrid in all competitions.
- All three encounters between Atletico and Barcelona this season have all followed the same template: Atletico score first and Barcelona win 2-1.
- Atletico have picked up five red cards in their last five competitive games against Barcelona, whilst the Blaugranas haven’t received a single one.
- However, Atletico and Barcelona’s only previous encounter on the European stage before this season saw the Madrid side progress 2-1 on aggregate in the 2013/14 Champions League quarter-finals. Atletico’s 1-0 win at the Calderón in April 2014 (second leg) is the last time they beat Barcelona.
- The last time Barcelona failed to score in the Champions League was in April 2014 against Atletico Madrid at the Calderon (1-0 defeat).
- The first leg at the Camp Nou ended with 10 cards (9 yellows and 1 red), the most for a 90-minute game in this season’s Champions League.
- Atletico’s only two shots on target in the first-leg (goal included) occurred before Fernando Torres’ red card in the 35th minute. Afterwards they failed to record a shot on target.
Player to watch – Atletico Madrid:
Saul Niguez – With Fernando Torres suspended, Simeone will probably play leading scorer Antoine Griezmann through the middle, but the Frenchman will need all support he can get from Saul Niguez and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco in the wide positions. With Saul Niguez scoring four goals in La Liga so far and being successful in 42% of his dribbles, he will certainly try to exploit recent Jordi Alba injury troubles and do everything to create and/or score opportunities.
Player to watch – Barcelona:
Lionel Messi – Messi is currently on his worst Barcelona scoring run for five years, having gone 362 minutes without netting in any competition. With the rest of MSN trio, he will need to regain his usual majestic form to try and get one or two away goals that should qualify the team further. What is curious, this recent loss of form has come with Messi in search of his 500th goal as a professional – a milestone which was expected to be a formality has, maybe, become a curse.
Team news:
Atletico Madrid: Jose Gimenez status is still unclear. He could be ready to play, but it’s unlikely Simeone will force the issue, just as with Stefan Savic, so Lucas will most likely partner Diego Godin in defence. Also, Fernando Torres is unavailable following his first leg red card.
Barcelona: Jeremy Mathieu, Aleix Vidal and Thomas Vermaelen are out of the contention. Also, almost needless to say, Rafinha is injured again. Still, Barcelona’s first team in uneffected and will be ready to play.
Date: 13 Apr 2016
Venue: Vicente Calderon, Madrid, Spain
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli
Bron : SS.com
