Barcelona are set to take on Atletico Madrid on Saturday, 21 December in a blockbuster match in the La Liga title race.
Barcelona's lead at the top of the table has been completely diminished over the past few months with Hansi Flick's men seemingly hitting a brick wall after a brilliant start to the season.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, have been faultless for a while now and have won 11 matches in a row in all competitions. That run of form means they come into this match knowing that a win would take them to the top of La Liga.
How the bookies view it: The hosts start as favourites
Despite Atletico Madrid's sensational run of form, they start this match as the underdogs – something Diego Simeone will be more than happy about. BoyleSports have priced a Barcelona win at 4/5 while a victory for Atletico Madrid has been priced at 5/2. The draw, which wouldn't be a bad result for either side, has been priced at 11/4
Recent head-to-head: Barcelona dominance
Although the form guide is very much with Atletico Madrid ahead of kick-off, the recent head-to-head record is with Barcelona. The Catalan giants have won their last five matches against Atletico Madrid with Atleti's last win in this fixture coming in October 2021. Interestingly, Diego Simeone has never won an away match against Barcelona before.
Players to watch: Griezmann to haunt his former club?
Although Antoine Griezmann is a certified Atletico Madrid legend, he did once put that status at risk when he moved to Barcelona for two seasons. Although the Frenchman would point to Atletico's financial struggles as a reason for the move, he still went to Catalonia and donned the famous red and blue stripes.
Griezmann's time in Barcelona was underwhelming, failing to win La Liga or the Champions League in both of his seasons at the Camp Nou. Since returning to Atletico in 2021 he as looked back to his best and despite being 33 years old, he is showing no signs of slowing down.
Griezmann has been a huge reason for Atletico's remarkable winning streak this season and he has netted seven goals in his last six appearances in all competitions. If he can stick the knife in his former employers this weekend, then he will be a step closer to achieving his dream of winning the title for Atletico.
Predicted line-ups
Lamine Yamal is the biggest absentee for Barcelona on Saturday with the teenager ruled out until the new year with an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Alexander Sorloth, Atletico's match-winner against Getafe last time out, has been ruled out with a muscle issue.
Barcelona: Pena – Kounde, Garcia, Martinez, Balde – Casado, Pedri – Raphinha, Olmo, Torres – Lewandowski
Atletico Madrid: Oblak – Llorente, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan – Lino, Barrios, De Paul, Gallagher – Alvarez, Griezmann
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have been leaking goals for fun ever since Marc Andre ter-Stegen went down with a season-ending injury and Atletico Madrid will look to take full advantage of that. Atletico Madrid to score over 1.5 goals has been priced at 7/5 by BoyleSports.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will be played on Dec 21, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
