Primera Liga: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid preview

Primera Liga: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid preview
Defending Primera Liga champions Barcelona face title contenders Atletico Madrid on Wednesday at Camp Nou in the first big clash of the season. Last season the two teams met four times, twice in La Liga and twice in the Champions League, and Barcelona won three of those four matches. However, Atletico's 2-0 home win pulled them through the Champions League tie. Atletico have not won at Camp Nou in 10 years, last time they did that was in 2006 with two goals from Fernando Torres. Barcelona have been almost perfect so far this season, they grabbed six wins in all competitions but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home against Alaves. They recovered with a 7-0 demolition job of Celtic in the Champions League, followed by a 5-1 league victory at Leganes last week. Head coach Luis Enrique can pick his strongest eleven as there are no injured or suspended players. Atletico Madrid are unbeaten so far this season, but they got to a rather slow start with two consecutive draws against Alaves and Leganes. Then they started scoring in a 4-0 win at Celta and a 5-0 triumph over Gijon, either side of a 1-0 victory at PSV in the Champions League. They have conceded just one goal so far and none in their last four matches. Moya, Alessio Cerci and Tiago are injured. Probable line-ups: Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba - Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic - Messi, Suarez, Neymar Atletico Madrid: Oblak - Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Luis - Niguez, Gabi, Koke - Griezmann, Gameiro, Carrasco My prediction: Barcelona to win 3-1. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Barcelona win - 1.60 Draw - 4.00 Atletico win - 5.50
Sports Events Back to articles