Atlético and Barça look for a coup de effect in the Metropolitan

Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona meet this Sunday at the Metropolitano in a key match for both teams. It is for the rojiblancos, who are looking for a weighty victory against one of the competition’s colossi to reinforce Cholo Simeone’s message and, even more, for the blaugranas, who after the World Cup have left doubts in the matches against Espanyol and Intercity and have the chance to become sole leaders with a three-point advantage over the league champions. Whoever wins will hit a direct rival and come out stronger for the second half of the season.

“It is not a transcendental game for the future of the League, but a victory would be to hit the table,” Xavi Hernández acknowledged this Saturday. The Barça coach knows the importance of achieving victory to distance himself in the head and to recover the good feelings from the start of the season. To do this, the culés will have to be “more effective” and they will have to achieve it without Robert Lewandowski, who will not be able to play after the Administrative Court of Sport (TAD) ratified the sanction of three games for the Pole after his expulsion against Osasuna.

The match against Atlético is yet another test for Barcelona. The culés went to the break caused by the World Cup with five consecutive victories, solo leaders and with the feeling that the project was progressing on the right path. All this has been diluted after two games in which doubts have returned to Barça. Against Espanyol, the culé team was unable to close a match that they had dominated, while against Intercity in the Cup the defensive failures of last season returned, a problem that seemed solved after being the least thrashed team in the League.

Lewandowski’s loss will be the great Barca absence in the Metropolitan, but not the only one, since Jordi Alba will not be able to play either after the double booking he saw against Espanyol. These sanctions will condition Xavi’s eleven, who could bet on a mini-revolution to face the clash with guarantees. Balde will return to a defense in which Koundé could act as a right-back and the midfield would be for De Jong, Gavi and Pedri, while up front a range of possibilities opens up given the loss of the Pole. Ferran Torres starts as a favorite to act as a false 9, while Raphinha and Dembélé will be his companions in a vital duel to reinforce the lead.

With the opposite dynamic

Atlético’s moment is totally different from Barcelona’s. The rojiblancos went to the break immersed in an unparalleled crisis. Away from the fight for the League, out of European competitions and with the feeling of having hit bottom, the dynamics seem to have changed with the new year. Atlético is not a brilliant team, but in the matches against Elche and Oviedo they have recovered some of Simeone’s hallmarks, such as defensive solidity or the ability to take advantage of the opposing team’s mistakes. “We approach all the games as if they were a final. There is no more important game than the one you have,” Cholo said this Saturday, knowing that his team have always been stronger in the “game by game”.

To try to continue with this dynamic, Simeone will be able to count on all his footballers with the exception of Mario Hermoso, sanctioned after his expulsion against Elche. It will be the only absence in an eleven in which the 5-3-2 will return in the defensive phase, with Carrasco as left winger, and the 4-4-2 with the Belgian incorporated into the midfield to achieve superiorities. Pablo Barrios, the new rojiblanca jewel, will have a new opportunity on a big stage forming the midfield along with Koke and Llorente, while Griezmann and Morata will be in charge of looking for the goal.