La Liga’s best attack vs La Liga’s best defence
Saturday’s match sees La Liga’s best attack go up against the division’s best defence in a huge match between Hansi Flick’s wobbling Barca and a red-hot Atletico.
The Catalans giants have bagged 50 goals in just 18 games this season - making them La Liga’s most prolific attack - but they were surprisingly kept out by Leganes last time out.
Atletico will hope to do the same on Saturday as La Liga’s best defence - which has conceded just 11 goals - comes to Montjuic.
Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha will be the main goalscoring threats for Barcelona and will come up against a defence that may well include a familiar face.
Clement Lenglet is being tipped to start against his parent club as there’s no fear clause in his contract.
The Frenchman has made eight starts this season for Simeone’s side in La Liga, including last time out in the win over Getafe, and is enjoying life in Madrid at the moment.
The Yamal Factor
Barcelona will be without Lamine Yamal for the game which is a tremendous blow, particularly when you consider their poor record without the teenager this season.
The teenager is out with an ankle problem, giving manager Hansi Flick something of a headache ahead of the game when it comes to his line-up.
Yet it’s a game Flick really can’t afford to lose if his team are to go on and challenge for the title this season - as the stats show.
4 - Barcelona have suffered 4 defeats in 18 matches in LaLiga 2024/25 (W12 D2). Only twice has a team won the competition after losing +4 of their first 18 games of the season: Valencia in 1941/42 (W12 D2 L4) and also in 1946/47 (W10 D1 L7). Challenge. pic.twitter.com/6Dy3SHRLMM
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 16, 2024
Ferran Torres currently seems to be the most likely option to come into the team after scoring four goals in five games since returning from injury. The only thing is, he seems much better as an impact sub than a starter.
The stats show that Atletico are currently the most in-form team in Europe after winning their last 11 games in a row, but they head to Barcelona with a terrible record. They have not won any of their last 18 away games against Barcelona and have not even scored in their last four games.
Watch out for Griezmann & Sorloth
Antoine Griezmann will take on his former club in spectacular form after scoring seven goals in his last six matches for Atletico. And some of those have been pretty special you have to say.
The Frenchman has never scored against his former team and will want to put that right on Saturday. In fact he’s scored against 29 of the 30 opponents he’s faced as an Atletico player in La Liga - with Barca the only team missing from that list.
Alexander Sørloth will also pose a threat, albeit most likely off the bench. The Norwegian has scored 24 goals in La Liga in 2024 - only Robert Lewandowski has more - and has netted more headed goals than anyone else in La Liga over the last 12 months.
Barca’s defence has looked a little insecure recently with Flick’s famously highline having been found out a little bit by opponents. Fatigue also appears to be an issue - but Barca know this is just one last push before a period of rest over Christmas.