Barca will welcome Atletico Madrid to Nou Camp this Sunday for a huge match in the 2021/22 La Liga season.
Venue: Camp Nou (Barcelona)
Key Statistics
Barcelona have kept one clean sheet in their last five games in all competitions.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last six La Liga games (W3, D3).
They have not lost at home La Liga H2H against Atletico since February 2006 (W10, D5).
Atletico Madrid are winless across their last four away league games (D1, L3).
They have conceded the most goals across their opening 21 LL games since 2011/12.
Head to head
Both teams have faced 55 times in the recent past.
Barcelona won 27 of those games while Atletico Madrid won 13 times. 15 matches ended in a draw.
On average, both teams scored 2.91 goals per match.
Latest performances in all competitions
Barcelona: W-L-L-D-W
Atletico Madrid: W-L-L-D-W
Barcelona
Barcelona will look to break into the top four when they welcome Atletico to the Nou Camp on Sunday.
Xavi’s side are currently sitting in fifth place, with 35 points and one point behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and five behind third-placed Real Betis with a game in hand.
They come into this tie on the back of a 1-0 win over Alaves. Frenkie de Jong scored the only goal of the contest late in the game to secure a huge three points for Xavi’s side.
The win means they are unbeaten in La Liga since the start of December and have won three of their last five games.
Although they are far behind in the title race, as they are sitting 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, they will be happy to at least finish within the top four.
Given their January transfer business, which saw them add Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore, they will fancy their chances of building on from here and finishing within the Champions League places.
However, they have not beaten Atletico in the league since December 2019, losing two of the last three meetings, including a 2-0 defeat in the reverse match at Wanda Metropolitano back in October.
Possible Barcelona starting line-up
Marc Ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Luuk de Jong, Gavi.
Injured: Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto, Eric Garcia and Alejandro Balde.
Doubtful: Memphis Depay
Suspended: None
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid’s defence of the La Liga title has since ended as they find themselves 14 points behind Real Madrid. They have collected only 36 points from 21 matches, which has left them in the fourth position in the table.
They recently lost four league matches in a row, but they have recovered to take seven points from the last nine available in Spain’s top flight.
Their last game before the international break was a 3-2 win over Valencia. The game saw Diego Simeone’s side score twice in the final moments to turn the game around.
In an entertaining affair at the Wanda Metropolitano, Simeone’s men trailed 2-1 heading into the last minute of normal time, but Angel Correa levelled before Mario Hermoso came up with a 93rd-minute winner to end a two-game losing run for the visitors.
Given that Simeone needs just one more La Liga victory (235) to surpass former Barça coach Ferdinand Daučík for most top-flight wins by a non-Spanish manager, he will be desperate for his side to get the win against the Catalan side.
Possible Atletico Madrid starting line-up
Jan Oblak; Daniel Wass, Jose Gimenez, Stefan Savic, Hermoso; Yannick Carrasco, Rodrigo De Paul, Koke, Thomas Lemar; Angel Correa, Luis Suarez.
Injured: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Antoine Griezmann and Marcos Llorente
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Barcelona 1-1 Atlético Madrid
