Atletico Madrid and Barcelona square off in a La Liga fixture on Sunday with both teams on a high after Champions League progress. Both teams appear evenly matched at the moment and with little to separate them, they could be set to cancel each other out.
Atletico Madrid head into Sunday’s clash off the back of an impressive comeback against Inter Milan in the Champions League round of 16. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, they fell behind in Wednesday’s clash, with efforts from Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay drawing them level on aggregate before winning on penalties.
Domestically, Atletico Madrid have been a bit erratic in recent weeks with two wins from their last five matches. Diego Simeone’s men were beaten 2-0 at Cadiz last time out in La Liga and remain fourth on the standings, just two points above fast rising Athletic Bilbao.
In the midst of all of Atletico Madrid’s erratic showings, the Estadio Civitas Metropolitano has remained a fortress. They are yet to suffer a home defeat in La Liga and are on a five match winning run in front of their fans.
Barcelona are also coming off a Champions League win as they triumphed 4-2 on aggregate over Napoli to secure a berth in the quarter-finals. Having battled to a 1-1 draw in the first meeting, goals from Fermin Lopez, Joao Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski earned them a 3-1 win in the second leg.
That result extends Barcelona’s recent good form as they are unbeaten in their last nine matches across all competitions. One of their results in that run is a 1-0 victory over Mallorca in their previous La Liga fixture.
Barcelona have also looked decent on their recent travels as they are unbeaten in their last four away matches across all competitions. However, Xavi's men have drawn the last two fixtures in that run.
How the bookies view it
Atletico Madrid have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 7/5 by Unibet. A victory for Barcelona is valued at 15/8 by BetVictor while a draw is set at odds of 14/5 by William Hill.
Head to head
Barcelona have a 35-18 advantage with 17 draws from 70 previous matches against Atletico Madrid. The Catalans have also won the last four meetings and claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in December.
Players to watch
Alvaro Morata is the leading scorer for Atletico Madrid with 14 La Liga goals and could be backed to find the net on Sunday at 33/20 by Unibet. Antoine Griezmann has 11 La Liga goals and could be worth keeping an eye on to get one against his former club at 21/10 by bet365.
Robert Lewandowski has been in good form lately with six goals in his last eight matches across all competitions for Barcelona. The Polish striker also has 12 La liga goals this season and is priced at 13/8 by William Hill to get on the score sheet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona saw over 3.5 goals in their midweek Champions League fixture and a repeat is priced at 7/4 with BetVictor. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at odds of 4/6 Unibet.
There have been more goals after the break in three of Barcelona's last four away matches and a similar pattern is priced at evens with Betfred. With a closely fought encounter expected on Sunday, a halftime draw could be on the cards at 7/5 with 888Sport.
This La Liga match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will be played on Mar 17, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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