Barca - Atletico: The final challenge
La Liga this season has no shortage of unbelievable things. Before the 30th round, Barca led the tournament with a gap of 11 points, but continuously fell in the European arena. Xavi's teachers and students were eliminated from the Champions League group stage and then lost to Man Utd in the Europa League play-off round.
Atletico promoted the strongest La Liga since the beginning of the year. They won 10 matches, including six wins upstream, drew three to rise to third, but still are not considered championship candidates.
Interspersed between these two clubs is Real - the team that struggled in the domestic league, but continued to thrive in the Champions League. The royal team in turn defeated Liverpool, Chelsea and will play Man City in the semi-finals.
"So what happened? Is Barca really that strong? Or are other clubs too bad? Welcome to La Liga season 2022-2023", British newspaper The Analyst commented. "Today's match at Camp Nou may not have much to do with the final position decision, but it could help decipher this season's La Liga and the true form of the two clubs."
The first leg of La Liga this season between the two teams is also very strange. At the Metropolitano, Atletico finished 20 times, twice as much as Barca and had more than double the expected goal index, but still lost 0-1. The difference came in the 22nd minute, when Gavi created an assist for Ousmane Dembele to finish with one touch against goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
There has been controversy about what style of play Xavi wants to adopt for Barca this season. When playing Real in the King's Cup, they chose - or were forced - to stay deep in their home field and play counter-attack. This contradicts Barca's usual attacking style, but proved effective in La Liga this season, and more specifically against Atletico in the first leg.
Barca has been eliminated from the European arena, the King's Cup and only La Liga to fight for the rest of this season. And in theory, Xavi's teachers and students are breathing easy because Atletico is their last big challenge on the way to conquering the championship. In the last eight rounds, Barca only played Rayo Vallecano, Betis, Osasuna, Espanyol, Sociedad, Valladolid, Mallorca and Celta in turn.
But not because of that, teachers and students Xavi can be subjective or lazy today. Barca are in decline when they have lost their last three matches, partly because the main striker Robert Lewandowski is no longer in high form. They drew Getafe, Girona 0-0 in La Liga and lost to Real 0-4 in the semi-final second leg of the King's Cup. Barca experienced two consecutive goalless draws in La Liga for the first time from May 2005 to August 2005. But this is the first time they have lost two consecutive matches in La Liga in a season, since September 1993.
However, the Opta supercomputer still rates Barca higher with a 46.1% chance of winning, while Atletico have a 25.2% chance of taking three points at Camp Nou today.
The history of confrontation also favors the Catalan giants. After two consecutive defeats at Camp Nou in 2005 and 2006, Barca did not lose to Atletico at home in the last 16 times in La Liga, with 11 wins and five draws. This is Barca's second longest unbeaten streak at home against Atletico, after a series of 20 matches in October 1963, with 15 wins and five draws.
As Barca coach, Xavi has won both matches against Atletico in La Liga, winning 4-2 in February 2022 and 1-0 in January 2023. If he keeps three points at Camp Nou, Xavi will become the second coach in the Barca calendar to win all three of the first three matches against Atletico, after former teacher Luis Enrique with four victories between 2015 and 2016.
Meanwhile, being a guest at Camp Nou is a nightmare for Diego Simeone, when he has not helped Atletico enjoy the joy of winning on this field for the past 15 matches.
Regarding the force, Barca welcomed Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele back to training after a muscle injury, but all left open the possibility of playing. On the opposite side, Atletico lack Memphis Depay due to injury, while Marcos Llorente and Geoggrey Kondogbia are absent due to suspension.
