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Atletico Madrid barely have time to lick their wounds after a Champions League exit against city-rivals Real Madrid—because next up is a big La Liga game against Barcelona that could make or break their title hopes.
Kick-off is at 8 p.m. Moroccan time, and fans can catch the action live on BeIN Sports Arabic 1, BeIN Sports English 2, BeIN Sport France 1, and LaLiga TV Bar.
The title race is heating up. Atletico sit just one point behind Barca in second and four adrift of league leaders Real Madrid. However, Los Blancos have played two more games than Barcelona and one more than Atletico—so the door is still open for Diego Simeone’s men to catch up.
The Madrid derby had been quite dramatic. Atletico suffered a painful penalty shootout loss to Real after Julian Alvarez’s spot-kick was ruled out due to a double touch on the ball after he slipped during the run-up. Replays revealed that his supporting foot accidentally nudged the ball before his strike.
Simeone was gutted: “Honestly, it isn’t easy to get over the way we lost this tie. We can’t lie to ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona had an extra day of rest after sealing their Champions League quarter-final spot against Benfica on Tuesday.
“We face a great rival on Sunday,” Simeone admitted. “I imagine the Barcelona players were hoping our game would go on as long as possible, reach penalties. We will arrive tired and beat up, but we will throw everything we have left at them.”
Atletico have already given Barcelona headaches twice this season. A late Alexander Sorloth winner sealed a 2-1 triumph in their last La Liga encounter, while the sides played out a thrilling 4-4 draw in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg.
But Barcelona are a different beast now. They haven’t lost in 17 straight matches since that December defeat to Atletico, and they’ll be eyeing revenge today.
These two will meet again next month to decide who reaches the Copa del Rey final.
Hansi Flick has warned his Barca side that Atletico can punish any lapse in focus—something his team learned the hard way in their previous meetings this season.
“We have had two really great matches, but we must be focused from the first to the last minute,” Flick said. “In the first match, we lost concentration at the end. The second time, we started and finished poorly. We must correct this.”
Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen remain long-term absentees with knee injuries, but there’s some good news—Andreas Christensen is back in training and could feature.
At the same time, Angel Correa is suspended after his red card in the 2-1 defeat to Getafe last weekend. Koke remains doubtful with a knock, while Rodrigo De Paul is set to miss out.
Score Prediction
This is a must-win for both sides. Expect a high-contested electric game with both sides throwing all their weight to seal the win and the close down on the table leaders.
Atletico Madrid 2-2 FC Barcelona
