Atletico Madrid – Barcelona

One of the great Spanish derbies will be played on Saturday when Atletico Madrid host Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano. This is a game which always bring a lot of emotions. Let’s take a look at it.

How are these two teams doing in La Liga so far? Atletico Madrid approach the 10th round from third place in the league standings. Los Colchoneros are just three points behind the current leader Real Sociedad, so they are really close to the top. A win against Barca will put them in an even better position than their current. At this moment Atleti have two games less than the Basques, too.

Meanwhile Barcelona have some catching up to do. The Catalans are 8th in the league with 11 points after some dissapointing results since the beginning of the season. It’s still too early to panic, but some of Barca’s results were really worrying. The club have won just one of its last five matches – against Real Betis in the previous round.

Atletico Madrid’s biggest problems are related to the Barcelona’s ex-striker Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan star was diagnosed with COVID-19, so he won’t be able to face his former team. At the same time Barcelona can’t use the talented young star Ansu Fati who is injured. Sergio Busquets is missing the game because of an injury, too.

We always expect a lot when teams like Atletico Madrid and Barcelona meet. Both teams have some injured players – important ones, but it doesn’t mean they can’t offer us a good show. Atleti started the season better than Barca, but this makes Los Cules even more motivated than usual. Ronald Koeman and his players know very well they need all of the points here. At the same time they have a very tough task because it’s always very difficult to play at the Wanda Metropolitano.