Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid

Spotify Camp Nou is the venue as pacesetters Barcelona and third-placed Atletico Madrid meet in a top-four La Liga six-pointer.

Even though they’ve drawn back-to-back La Liga matches without scoring in the lead-up to this fixture, runaway leaders Barcelona start this round 11 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid. Xavi Hernandez’s men have been a defensive force to be reckoned with this term, racking up a jaw-dropping 22 clean sheets in 29 league outings thus far. An impressive record of just two goals conceded from 14 top-flight home matches in 2022/23 explains why the ‘Blaugrana’ head into this round as the only La Liga side yet to lose a home fixture this season (W11, D3). Their outrageous home record will likely stay intact this weekend, considering the Catalan heavyweights have not lost any of their last 16 top-flight encounters against Atletico Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou (W11, D5).

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s bid to capture an 11th successive top-four finish in La Liga is firmly on course after they’ve racked up an eye-catching 13-game unbeaten league run (W10, D3), including six wins on the spin ahead of this trip. But with four of their last five top-flight victories yielding a narrow one-goal margin, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ seem to have redeveloped a habit of juggling fans’ nerves. Manager Diego Simeone wouldn’t mind another keenly-contested affair as he looks to help Atletico avoid losing both La Liga meetings with Barcelona in the same season for the first time since 2015/16 following a 1-0 home defeat in the reverse fixture. Three clean sheets from their last five league travels (W4, D1) will only encourage the visitors.