Atletico Madrid are fourth in the La Liga table with 13 points from seven games whereas Barcelona are seventh with 12 points from six games.
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Barcelona will travel to Wanda Metropolitano to take on Atletico Madrid on Saturday. The Catalan club is going through its worst phase in its history having lost their opening two Champions League group stage matches for the first time since the start of the tournament. The latest 3-0 defeat against Benfica in Lisbon has piled pressure on head coach Ronald Koeman and his future looks bleak. Meanwhile the defending champions Atletico Madrid are coming into the match on the back of a 2-1 win over AC Milan in the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid has been hot and cold this season having lost 1-0 at Alaves in their last La Liga fixture. In the match against AC Milan, Atletico needed two late goals from Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez despite playing against 10-man for the majority of the game. However, Diego Simeone would be pleased to see his forwards get on the score sheet, especially Griezmann, as it was his first goal for the club since rejoining from Barcelona this summer. Atletico’s forward line haven’t been firing on all cylinders having netted only nine times in the seven league games.
However, Simeone’s side are only three points adrift of La Liga leaders Real Madrid who have 17 points from seven games. They will now be looking to get back to winning ways in the league when they host a depleted Barcelona side.
Barcelona are seventh in the table with 12 points from six games. In the last league match against a lowly Levante, Koeman’s side earned a 3-0 win courtesy of goals from Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong and Ansu Fati. The match at Wanda Metropolitano is going to be crucial for Koeman in order to keep his job.
Barcelona’s performances haven’t been great as they registered only one shot on target against Benfica. Apart from Memphis Depay, nobody looks threatening in front of goal.
Atletico Madrid don’t really have any kind of serious injury concerns apart from right-back Kieran Trippier who was substituted in the first half against AC Milan and the Englishman is doubtful for Saturday’s match.
Meanwhile, Simeone has to make some decisions regarding the front line attack. Griezmann who came off the bench to score at San Siro is still struggling for form. Although Luis Suarez is performing decently well he needs more support. Angel Correa is likely to partner the Uruguayan up front.
Joao Felix, Rodrigo De Paul and Renan Lodi are pushing for a place in the playing XI. Stefan Savic who missed the game against AC Milan because of suspension will return to partner Jose Gimenez in the central defence.
As for Barcelona, Pedri is unavailable because of a muscle problem. Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero and Martin Braithwaite are sidelined due to injury. Meanwhile Jordi Alba is fit again and his return will boost the backline and they might revert to a back-four after struggling with three-man defence against Benfica.
Midfielder Frankie de Jong and Depay are the key men for Barcelona. These two Dutchmen have been performing well and if others could chip in with healthy contributions we could see a tight contest.
The match is likely to be a low scoring affair as both sides have struggled in the scoring department. Therefore the more clinical side on the day might have the edge.
