Barcelona vs Atl. Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-12-02 20:00.
This is a huge clash for two of La Liga’s (LL) biggest clubs, both of whom are trying to keep pace with top-two Real Madrid and Girona. Coming into the weekend, Barcelona were the only other team aside from the leading pair to have lost just one league game all season (W9, D4), but the draws have been their downfall. Their fourth came in the last round at Rayo Vallecano (1-1), with a favourable late own goal sparing their blushes.
Xavi’s men secured a crucial Champions League win during the week against Porto (2-1) to progress into the last 16 with a game to spare. It was the fourth straight competitive contest in which the Catalan side had conceded first, which is a troublesome trend especially as they managed just one win from their past six meetings with Atlético Madrid when their opponents opened the scoring (D2, L3).
The visitors are equal with their hosts on points but have a superior goal difference and a game in hand. That tally means Atlético have seven more points on the board than they did after 13 rounds last season, which underlines the improvements from Diego Simeone's men this term. Booking their place in the Champions League knockout phase thanks to a 3-1 win over Feyenoord this week was further evidence of that, particularly as they crashed out at the competition’s group stage last year.
That victory in Rotterdam was AtlĂ©tico’s fourth successive win across all competitions, with 13 goals scored and just two conceded during that streak. That should see them head into this game brimming with confidence, and while the Madrid outfit haven’t won at Camp Nou since way back in 2006 (D8, L15), the fact Barcelona are playing their home games at Estadi OlĂmpic LluĂs Companys this season could eliminate the psychological disadvantage that has often plagued them in this H2H.
Players to watch: Barcelona loanee Joao Félix is available to face his parent club and could be at the forefront of Xavi’s thinking after ending a 12-game goalscoring drought for Barcelona on Wednesday night. Atlético’s Antoine Griezmann will face his former club a week after his winner against Mallorca last week helped him become Atlético’s joint-second highest goalscorer of all-time (170).
Hot stat: The past five H2H meetings produced an average 6.8 cards per game (31 yellows, three reds).