This Saturday, Barcelona will face one in every of their hardest checks of the season with a house recreation in opposition to Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
The match guarantees to be a major problem for the Blaugrana, who’re coming off a tough interval within the league.
They’ve solely managed to choose up 5 factors from their final 18 accessible, a run that features two defeats of their final two video games at dwelling.
Barcelona misplaced 1-2 to UD Las Palmas after which fell 0-1 to Leganes final Sunday, which has put a dent of their hopes of staying on the prime of the desk.
Atletico Madrid are in fantastic type
However, Atletico Madrid are in glorious type. The crew has received 11 consecutive matches throughout La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League.
They’ve additionally made vital progress in closing the hole to Barcelona, lowering it by 10 factors in simply 5 video games.
Nevertheless, regardless of their robust run, they’ll face a tricky take a look at, as supervisor Diego Pablo Simeone has by no means managed to defeat Barcelona at their stadium since he took cost of the membership.
Simeone’s document vs Barcelona
Diego Simeone has by no means crushed Barcelona away from dwelling. (Picture by Alex Caparros/Getty Photographs)
Simeone has confronted Barcelona 25 occasions in La Liga, and his document in opposition to them will not be flattering. He has solely received two of these encounters, each at Atletico’s dwelling floor.
The primary victory got here within the 2020-21 season with a 1-0 win, and the second was a 2-0 triumph within the 2021-22 marketing campaign.
Since then, Simeone has struggled in opposition to Barcelona, shedding the final 5 video games in a row, all of which have been beneath Xavi Hernandez’s administration.
An in depth look
Xavi had a outstanding document in opposition to Atletico, successful all of his encounters with Simeone’s facet in latest seasons. In his first match in opposition to Atletico, Xavi led his crew to a 4-2 victory.
The next season, Barcelona received each league fixtures in opposition to Atletico, first with a 1-0 win on the Wanda Metropolitano after which one other 1-0 victory on the Camp Nou.
Final season, the Blaugrana secured one other slender win, this time with a aim from Joao Felix.
With Barcelona struggling and Atletico in fantastic type, this upcoming match at Montjuïc is essential for each groups.