Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid - Competition: Champions League
Barcelona's 39-match unbeaten streak came to an end in El Clasico as
they were defeated 2-1 by arch rivals Real Madrid on Saturday. Anyway,
the Catalans still boast a six-point lead in the Primera Division. The
Blaugrana are unbeaten in this season’s Champions League competition,
winning 6 and drawing 2 of their 8 fixtures. They have comprehensively
beaten Arsenal on both legs of the round of 16 wrapping the tie 5-1 on
aggregate.
Barcelona teal will be without Aleix Vidal as he joins Adriano, Mathieu and Sandro Ramirez on the sidelines. Rafinha has returned to the substitute bench against Real Madrid after recovering from a ligament injury and could play at some stage as the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez remain unchanged as well as the midfield trio of Rakitic, Busquets and Iniesta.
Barcelona teal will be without Aleix Vidal as he joins Adriano, Mathieu and Sandro Ramirez on the sidelines. Rafinha has returned to the substitute bench against Real Madrid after recovering from a ligament injury and could play at some stage as the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez remain unchanged as well as the midfield trio of Rakitic, Busquets and Iniesta.
Atletico Madrid cut the gap to Barcelona to six points in La Liga at the
weekend with a thumping 5-1 victory over Real Betis at the weekend.
They have conceded only 15 goals from their 31 league outings so far.
Their defensive record in the Champions League is impressive too, with
six clean sheets from their eight matches. In the previous Champions League round,
the Colchoneros were made to work hard by Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, who held them
to a 0-0 stalemate on both legs, but eventually qualified by winning on
penalties.
Manager Simeone has been boosted by the return of Diego Godin, Stefan Savic and Yannick Carrasco, but they will be without Tiago and are sweating on the fitness of Gimenez. Oliver Torres also remain sidelined through injury, while striker Luciano Vietto is a doubt. Griezmann and Fernando Torres are expected to lead the line in a 4-4-2 formation.
Atletico beat Barcelona at this same stage of the UCL en route to finishing as runners-up in 2014, drawing 1-1 in the first leg in the Camp Nou before winning 1-0 in the return fixture in the Vicente Calderon. Since August 2013 these familiar rivals have met 12 times, the first six of them in that stellar 2013-14 campaign for Atletico when they remained unbeaten against Barcelona and indeed secured La Liga with a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou. But since then, the boot has been on the other foot with six straight wins for the Blaugrana, including the two league clashes this term which both finished 2-1.
Manager Simeone has been boosted by the return of Diego Godin, Stefan Savic and Yannick Carrasco, but they will be without Tiago and are sweating on the fitness of Gimenez. Oliver Torres also remain sidelined through injury, while striker Luciano Vietto is a doubt. Griezmann and Fernando Torres are expected to lead the line in a 4-4-2 formation.
Atletico beat Barcelona at this same stage of the UCL en route to finishing as runners-up in 2014, drawing 1-1 in the first leg in the Camp Nou before winning 1-0 in the return fixture in the Vicente Calderon. Since August 2013 these familiar rivals have met 12 times, the first six of them in that stellar 2013-14 campaign for Atletico when they remained unbeaten against Barcelona and indeed secured La Liga with a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou. But since then, the boot has been on the other foot with six straight wins for the Blaugrana, including the two league clashes this term which both finished 2-1.
Barcelona last 5 matches:
06/03/16 Eibar 0 – 4 Barcelona12/03/16 Barcelona 6 – 0 Getafe
16/03/16 Barcelona 3 – 1 Arsenal
20/03/16 Villarreal 2 – 2 Barcelona
02/04/16 Barcelona 1 – 2 Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid last 5 matches:
06/03/16 Valencia 1 – 3 Atletico Madrid
12/03/16 Atletico Madrid 3 – 0 Deportivo
15/03/16 Atletico Madrid P 0 – 0 PSV Eindhoven
19/03/16 Sporting Gijón 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid
02/04/16 Atletico Madrid 5 – 1 Real Betis
12/03/16 Atletico Madrid 3 – 0 Deportivo
15/03/16 Atletico Madrid P 0 – 0 PSV Eindhoven
19/03/16 Sporting Gijón 2 – 1 Atletico Madrid
02/04/16 Atletico Madrid 5 – 1 Real Betis
Date: 5 April 2016 - Time: 19:45 BST
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
