LALIGA is heating up, and this weekend two of the title challengers will go head to head at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona will face off in a heavyweight clash, which kicks off at 21:00 CET on Sunday March 16th.
Both sides know that the three points could make them the leaders after this matchday, although third-placed Atlético de Madrid would also require a Real Madrid slip-up to move up to first place this weekend.
Even though both teams come into this league game after Champions League knockout ties, they’ll need to find energy from somewhere in this crucial game. For Barça, they’re hoping to extend their good run of form away at Los Rojiblancos, having won 1-0 and 3-0 in their past couple of visits. In fact, looking at the past five clashes between these sides at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, it’s the Catalan outfit who have won three times, compared to two home victories.
This season, though, Atleti have gone toe to toe with Barça. In the first meeting of this league season, it was Atlético de Madrid who pulled off a 2-1 victory, before these sides played out a thrilling 4-4 draw in the Copa del Rey semi-finals first leg. Both those matches were in the Catalan capital, so now Atlético de Madrid hope playing in front of their own fans can lead to another positive result.
That Copa del Rey second leg is on the horizon too, coming up at 21:00 CET on April 2nd. And, that too will be held at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Hansi Flick hopes to defeat Simeone for the first time this season
FC Barcelona’s coach is looking to get his first victory over Atlético de Madrid since taking over the hot seat in Catalonia. The two previous duels this campaign finished in Atlético de Madrid’s 2-1 victory in LALIGA EA SPORTS and that 4-4 first leg draw in the Copa del Rey. It’s true that Hansi Flick has gotten the better of Diego Simeone before, winning 4-0 with Bayern Munich in a Champions League game. Flick’s only previous visit to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano finished as a draw, though, so he’ll be keen to secure a better result this Sunday.
As for Simeone, he is enjoying the matches against FC Barcelona this season much more than in some previous years. December’s league win, back in Matchday 18, was the Argentinian’s first away at FC Barcelona.
Across his entire head-to-head with Los Azulgranas, Simeone has registered six victories, 12 draws and 20 defeats in 38 matches. Looking just at LALIGA EA SPORTS games, the balance is even worse, with three wins, seven draws and 16 defeats. Still, some of Simeone’s most famous triumphs were against this opponent, such as two Champions League knockout tie victories and the LALIGA EA SPORTS championship won on the final day in 2013/14.
The top goalscorers vs the best defence
Both Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona have different styles of play, and this is a meeting of the league’s top-scoring team and best defence. FC Barcelona, with their 71 goals, are the top scorers in the competition, quite some way ahead of the 44 league goals netted by Atleti. Yet, Simeone’s side have conceded just 18, the best such record in the division, whereas Barça have conceded 25 times. The numbers show that Los Rojiblancos can defend better, but they’re not able to score at the rate of Los Blaugranas.
Another interesting stat is that Barça boast the most possession in LALIGA EA SPORTS, with a rate of 67%, which is ahead of the 51.2% that places Los Rojiblancos seventh in this ranking. So, there is one team that loves to dominate through possession and another which is more comfortable robbing and attacking into space.
Griezmann, Álvarez and Sørloth vs Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Lewandowski
This duel between Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona will feature some of the best forwards in the world. Looking at the recent 4-4 draw, all of the star attackers showed up. For Los Colchoneros, each of Antoine Griezmann, Julián Álvarez and Alexander Sørloth got on the scoresheet in that Copa del Rey first leg, while Robert Lewandowski netted for the Catalans and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha each assisted.
These are two of the best forward lines in Europe. Looking at all competitions, the FC Barcelona front three have 73 goals scored between them, 34 of which have been scored by Lewandowski, 27 by Raphinha and 12 by Lamine Yamal. Atlético de Madrid have 52 goals scored by their attackers, with Julián Álvarez scoring 22, Antoine Griezmann 16 and Alexander Sørloth 14. Narrowing in on LALIGA EA SPORTS, it’s 40 goals for the Barça front three (21 for Lewandowski, 13 for Raphinha and six for Lamine Yamal) and 28 for Atleti (10 each for Julián Álvarez and Sørloth, and eight for Griezmann). Without a doubt, these are two devasting attacks going up against each other.
Because of this, the two goalkeepers should be important too, and both Jan Oblak and Wojciech Szczęsny are in great form. The Slovenian has conceded the fewest goals in LALIGA EA SPORTS, while Szczęsny has let in just two goals in his past six LALIGA EA SPORTS games, in addition to making some incredible stops in the Champions League.
In the middle of the park, Rodrigo de Paul and Pedri are ones to watch. They’re each having incredible seasons, with the Argentinian becoming so important for the way Simeone’s side defend and attack, while Pedri has been handed the keys of the team by Flick and brings pace to the movement of the ball, with dribbling and with passing.
This game clearly has all of the ingredients to be a classic, and it could also be decisive in the title race. Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona are battling for much more than three points, they’re looking to make a statement in LALIGA EA SPORTS.
SOURCE: LALIGA CONTENTHUB
