FC Barcelona (1st, 38pts) vs Atlético Madrid (2nd, 38pts)
Competition/Round: 2024-25 La Liga, Matchday 18
Date/Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Sunday)
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Lamine Yamal, Marc Bernal, Héctor Fort (out)
Atlético Madrid Outs & Doubts: Ángel Correa (doubt)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea
VAR: Javier Iglesias Villanueva
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria), ITV 4, Premier Sports 1 (UK), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), ITVX, LaLigaTV (UK), GXR World (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a disappointing defeat at home to Leganés last weekend, Barcelona return to action for their final game of 2024 as the La Liga leaders face a monster clash against Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Saturday Night Fútbol.
Barça come into this one in absolute freefall when it comes to their domestic form, winning just one of their last six in the league and losing two in a row at home to two relegation candidates. The performances haven’t been exactly bad, which is even more frustrating, with the biggest issue being their efficiency in front of goal for a team that was unstoppable until six weeks ago.
Now they face an Atleti side that is absolutely scorching hot: the Colchoneros have won 11 in a row in all competitions and have conceded just seven goals during that streak, with three of those coming in a wild 4-3 win over Sevilla. They continue to live up to their reputation as an elite defense, and have added a very dangerous attacking edge to their style with Julián Álvarez settling in after a rough start following his big-money move from Manchester City and Antoine Griezmann playing perhaps the best football of his career at 33 years old.
There is some luck involved in their streak, but that has to be the case when you reach double digits in wins. The simple fact is this is a really good, really complete, really well-coached team in the middle of their best run of form in years, and they’re ready to finally conquer the Blaugrana on the road. Atleti haven’t won away to Barça since 2006, and Simeone himself has failed to win in all 17 of his visits to Catalonia as manager.
Hansi Flick’s team may be struggling right now but have played well in pretty much every big game this season, including a crucial European win over Borussia Dortmund that happened in the middle of his bad run. They get a full week’s rest which should help a team that looked tired in recent weeks, and they’ve brought the right level of intensity and focus to every matchup against elite teams this season.
If Barça can recapture that level, they are absolutely good enough to end Atleti’s streak, and the game might be more open than expected given the visitors’ level of confidence and attacking prowess lately. Barça have struggled a lot against parked buses recently, so they might benefit if Simeone decides to go on the attack in this one.
This should be a lot of fun, and a perfect way to end Barça’s 2024 schedule. This has been a crazy year, and there’s no better way to finish it than by beating a historic rival and going into the holiday break with a major boost of confidence and top spot in the standings secured.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Peña; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, Pedri; Raphinha, Olmo, Ferran; Lewandowski
Atlético (4-4-2): Oblak; Llorente, Giménez, Lenglet, Galán; Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher; Griezmann, Álvarez
PREDICTION
Barça are struglling, and Atlético keep winning. But I’ll choose to believe the home team will find a way as they’ve done in every big game this season: 2-1 the good guys.