Barcelona took a major step toward the La Liga title on Saturday by beating Atletico away 2–1. The gap to second-placed Real Madrid is already seven points. In the Champions League, they beat Newcastle 8–3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, which highlighted the team’s extraordinary attacking quality. At the same time, however, their defensive vulnerabilities were also exposed. Hansi Flick’s bold pressing game and high defensive line are vulnerable to direct counterattacks.
Atletico Madrid led Saturday’s head-to-head at home 1–0 and, in addition to their goal, also created another major chance. The match was largely decided by refereeing decisions late in the first half, when at 1–1 Atletico’s stand-in left-back Nico Gonzalez was sent off, and shortly after that, Barcelona’s Gerard Martin had his red card overturned after a VAR review. Down to ten men, Atleti were no longer able to fight for the win.
The teams know each other extremely well, as this is already their fifth meeting of the season. Barcelona have won three of the previous four. Atletico’s only win came in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at home, when they recorded a stunning 4–0 victory. Barcelona will be without Raphinha, who was injured during the international break, but the Marcus Rashford – Dani Olmo duo are capable of covering for him well. At Camp Nou, Barcelona are expected to dominate possession, but Atletico are capable of creating chances through direct attacking play. As a result, the expected goal output for the match is high.