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Barcelona host Atletico Madrid today in what could be a potential La Liga title decider.
This could prove to be the most important weekend of the 2020-21 season. A three-way race is underway for the La Liga title with fourth-placed Sevilla also possessing an outside chance. Barcelona take on Atletico Madrid today while Real Madrid lock horns with Sevilla on Sunday night.
Atletico Madrid looked on course to win the La Liga title until a dreadful dip in form in recent times enabled the chasing pack to bridge the gap and breathe down their necks. However, they still maintain a two-point lead with Real Madrid and Barcelona. But that won't exist anymore if they lose the game against Barcelona today.
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Barcelona let go of a great opportunity to go atop the La Liga table a week and a half ago when they suffered a shock defeat to Granada. Barcelona had started the season on a poor note, reeling from the implosion at the club and struggling to find their feet under a new manager.
However, they have turned it around and it remains to be seen whether they can cap it off with a domestic double after having already won the Copa Del Rey. Without further ado, let's take a look at five reasons why Barcelona will struggle against Atletico Madrid.
#5 Barcelona's usual style will play right into Atletico Madrid's hands
Atletico Madrid will be happy to allow Barcelona to retain possession for the majority of the game. It's a style that suits them. The Rojiblancos will look to hit Barcelona on the break and it is something that has proven to be really effective against the Catalans.
Whenever Barcelona pin too much importance on retaining possession, they end up losing a lot of intensity in the bargain. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid do not rest on their laurels and when in possession, they progress the ball much quicker than their Saturday opponents.
Villarreal and Granada have executed this plan against Barcelona in recent weeks, with the latter going on to pick up a surprise win against the Catalans. Atletico Madrid pack more firepower than either of those teams and will test the Barcelona defence regularly tonight.
#4 Atletico Madrid have more goalscoring diversity
While Barcelona have been a bit over-reliant on Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann for goals in recent weeks, Atletico Madrid have seen goals coming from a variety of players. In fact, their frontline of Luis Suarez and Angel Correa have been very effective playing together.
Angel Correa has scored seven goals and provided eight assists in the La Liga this season. Yannick Carrasco has been incredibly productive this season, scoring five goals and providing eight assists from the left wing.
Marcos Llorente has scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists this season. Additionally, they also have Joao Felix, who is likely to come off the bench as an impact-sub today. Felix has seven goals and four assists to his name.
What this means is that Diego Simeone has a number of players who are used to finding the back of the net and one of them is most likely to fire for them when push comes to shove.
#3 Atletico Madrid defence has been solid
Despite their drop in form, Atletico Madrid have been rock-solid at the back and Barcelona will be wary of this fact. They have the best defensive record in the league and have conceded just 22 goals from 34 games in La Liga this season.
Jose Gimenez returned to the starting XI in the game against Elche. Diego Simeone will rely on his trusted back three of Maria Hermoso, Steven Savic and Jose Gimenez to keep the Barcelona attackers at bay tonight.
All three are top-quality defenders who will be happy to deal with Barcelona's predictable ways. They will also try to physically dominate Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi and will play a crucial role in turning over possession and helping Atletico Madrid hit Barcelona on the counter.
#2 Koke and Marcos Llorente could prove to be a handful for Barcelona midfielders
Contrary to what his numbers in terms of goals and assists might suggest, Atletico Madrid captain Koke has been enjoying a great season. He has played a pivotal role in Atletico Madrid's title charge and has been their architect-in-chief in midfield.
With Geoffrey Kondogbia doing well in the role of the midfield anchor, there's a good chance that Koke will be deployed in a more advanced role against Barcelona which is a team he likes playing against. He has scored three goals and provided two assists in all games against Barcelona thus far and that's Koke's second-best tally against any team in the La Liga.
If he is deployed in a more attacking role, then the trio of Koke, Marcos Llorente and Kieran Trippier will run riot down the right side causing the Barcelona midfield and defense to be at sixes and sevens throughout.
Marcos Llorente has arguably been Atletico Madrid's best player this season. He has scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists this season and he will be looking to make the most out of playing against Barcelona's shaky defence.
#1 Luis Suarez with a point to prove against Barcelona
Boy oh boy, the monster that Barcelona nurtured is coming back to haunt them. Luis Suarez joined Barcelona in 2014 and went on to accomplish great things at the Camp Nou before being shown the exit door last summer in rather abrupt and disrespectful fashion.
He has since opened up about the incident and said he felt disrespected by how Barcelona thought he was too old to play for them. In an interview with France Football magazine in February, Suarez said:
“What really bothered me was that they told me that I was old and that I could no longer play at the top level, be up to a great team. That's what displeased me. ”
Luis Suarez has scored 19 goals and provided two assists in 28 appearances in La Liga for Atletico Madrid this season. The Uruguayan has shown Barcelona exactly what they have been missing up front.
He will be raring to prove a point to his former employers when he steps foot at the Camp Nou and a motivated and focused Luis Suarez is a proposition like no other. Barcelona know it better than anyone.
