Atletico Madrid take on the visitors Barcelona in the round 16 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Sunday, January 8th at Metropolitano Stadium (Madrid).
Atlético have been playing under the leadership of Diego Simeone for over 10 years. The club established themselves as top-4 team and took a number of trophies while the football style of the team is heavily criticized. Now again there is something to criticize the grand too. They definitely failed in the Champions League, finishing 4th in the quartet. And in LaLiga, the starting segment was not the best: out of 14 matches, only half, 7, were won. Obviously, the actual task there is not to fight for a trophy, but to hold positions in the quartet of the strongest. This is the only way to save a pass to the Champions League. So it was extremely important to start December with success, and as a result, on December 29, they took a final 2-0 with a modest Elche. But even the outsider lasted more than half, and only after a break from Griezmann's passes did João Felix and Morata score.
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Barcelona have been playing for more than a year under the leadership of the legend - Xavi. There were already 2 transfer “windows” under Xavi and Laporte. And there are really high-profile signings, which are Kunde and Lewandowski. But at the end this fall, Bluagrana were kicked out of the Champions League for the second time in a row after the group stage. Moreover, there were enough misfires in the domestic arena, including 1-3 in El Clasico. True, then there were a couple of misfires of “Real”, which allowed Barca to leave for a break in the sole 1st place. But immediately after the pause, just in time for the New Year, the derby with Espanyol finished only 1-1, even with the removal of Jordi Alba! They suffered even in Copa, with the little-known Intercity, having managed to get three times from their own graduate, Soldevilla, and passing the underdog with the score 4-3 in extra time.
Atlético had 5 matches in a row without defeat against Barcelona. And only a little less than a year ago, in February, Barca won 4-2 at the “Camp Nou”. Atlético are seen as the underdog of this pair, but it seems that the current visitors are overestimated here. A passing option looks like a bet that the hosts will not lose.
Prediction for the match: Atletico not to lose (1X).
