Atlético de Madrid and Barça will play a crucial match for the league championship on Sunday (9 pm). The Culé team becomes the leader, but only one point separates the two teams in the standings. It will be an important game.
Atlético, with sky-high ambition
Cholo Simeone’s team has already defeated Barça in the first leg. After 17 visits to the Camp Nou, they won 1-2 in a victory that not only broke a streak of five consecutive losses in league matches against Barça but also served as an opportunity to claim the top spot. Now, in the second leg and with their fans behind them, they will try to secure the victory to take over the leadership. To do so, they will need to win both league matches against Barça in the same season for the first time since the 2005/06 season.
Recent matches with a clean sheet
The last four encounters at the Wanda Metropolitano have resulted in two clean sheets and two shutouts. Interestingly, either Atlético or Barça have managed to keep a clean sheet in these encounters while also securing the three points. Four seasons ago, in the 2020/21 season, in a match played behind closed doors due to the pandemic, Atlético won 1-0, and in the subsequent visit of Barça, the mattress team won 2-0.
The trend continued in the two most recent matches where Atlético traveled to Barcelona. In the 2022/23 season, the Culé team won 0-1, while last season, Barça sealed a dominant 0-3 victory. Historically, Atlético has failed to score at home against Barça in three consecutive matches. We hope this trend will continue this Sunday.
Madrid, a friendly territory
Recently, the Madrid community has been a favorable ground for Barça. In the last three visits to stadiums in this community, the Barça team has scored every time, securing two victories (against Rayo and Real Madrid) and a draw (against Getafe). This statistic extends to four consecutive matches where they have found the net in venues in this community, a feat that last occurred in 2019 under Valverde’s management.
Gavi, decisive against Atlético
The Andalusian player is one of the key contributors against the mattress team. In five matches against Madrid, he has been involved in three goals, scoring one and providing two assists. Along with Elche, these are the two teams where he has had multiple goal involvements, with the same number of contributions.
14 matches unbeaten at home
Atlético Madrid is currently on a 14-match unbeaten streak at home in the league. To find their last home defeat, we have to go back to matchday 37 of the previous season, where they lost 1-4 to Osasuna. Out of these 14 matches, they have recorded 10 wins and 4 draws. It remains to be seen if Barça can break this streak.