Real Madrid lost on Saturday against Villarreal, and a day later Barcelona players have the opportunity to be alone in the leading position of the Spanish Primera. However, in order to do that, they have to do an extremely difficult thing, to “survive” the visit of Atlético Madrid. Of the last five visits to the other side of Madrid, the Catalans returned home with all three points only once. They did it back in December 2019, when Lionel Messi scored in the 86th minute for 1:0. After that, Atletico won twice, with 1:0 and 2:0 scores.Barcelona gears up for Sunday’s blockbuster in MadridSo far, Barcelona played two unconvincing games around the New Year holidays, 1:1 with Espanyol in La Liga and a victory over the lower league Intercity in the King’s Cup with 4:3, but only after extra time. Now Xavi’s team must find the right form and gameplan against an extremely motivated opponent if they wish to extend their lead over Real after their bitter rivals gave them an unexpected ‘present’ yesterday.Just five wins against Barcelona in 32 attempts. Diego Simeone and Atletico will be hoping for more tomorrow! 😳 pic.twitter.com/LV4PZ61M1o— 90min (@90min_Football) January 7, 2023 Whether he likes it or not, Antoine Griezmann will be the focus of this derby. The French playmaker is in his second stint with Cholo Simeone’s Atletico, on loan from Xavi’s Barcelona. He found his form again, he shone at the recently finished World Cup, and he is happy again. As you already know, he spent the first part of the season with a limited number of minutes, so that the buyout clause of the contract in the amount of 40 million euros would not be accidentally activated. Only when an agreement was reached for twice the amount of money, Griezmann got the chance to play in his full glory. He is still on the ‘wave’ of good displays before and during the world cup. In the first league game after the break, he had a double assist in Atletico’s victory over Elche (2:0). Then on Wednesday, he set up one goal in the King’s Cup, against Real Oviedo (2:0). Griezmann played against his former team 27 times during his career, with a stats of five wins, six draws and 16 losses. Six times the 31-year-old Frenchman sent the ball into the Catalans’ net, and on five occasions he was an assistant. Not so bad at all.In-form Griezmann faces his once desired but unsuccessful flingThere are some other interesting facts ahead of this game. Barcelona has been good on the road this season, with 6 wins and only one defeat, which is second-best in La Liga, after Real Madrid. Atletico’s defensive leader, keeper Jan Oblak suffered 11 defeats with Barcelona in his 20 games against the Catalan team, and kept a clean sheet only four times. Also, Atletico is not as defensively great as they used to be, since they have conceded 14 goals in 15 games. On the other hand, Barca’s Robert Lewandowski scored 17 goals in 20 games for the Catalans, but he is suspended and won’t feature today.LA LIGA – Round 16FridayElche – Celta 0-1 (0-1)/Aspas 5/Valencia – Cadiz 0-1 (0-1)/Alcaraz 9/SaturdayVillareal – Real Madrid 2-1 (0-0)/Pino 47, Moreno 63 pen – Benzema 60 pen/Mallorca – Valladolid 1-0 (0-0)/Prats 90+4/Espanyol – Girona x-x (0-1)/Puado 51, Joselu 76 – Villa 32, Herrera 85/Sunday16:00: (3.90) Almeria (3.50) Sociedad (2.05)18:15: (2.50) Rayo Vallecano (3.05) Betis (3.05)20:30: (1.85) Sevilla (3.35) Getafe (4.70)23:00: (3.10) Atl.Madrid (3.35) Barcelona (2.45)Monday23:00: (1.70) Ath.Bilbao (3.60) Osasuna (5.40)***odds are subject to change***
