Atletico Madrid (77) vs Barcelona (90)
Barcelona – enjoying a four-point lead over archrival Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish charts – has the chance to wrap up the title on the penultimate match-day of the League season as it travels to Vicente Calderon to face Atletico Madrid.
The Catalan side has lost only one of its last 10 outings (across competitions), scoring 32 goals and conceding just six. Defending champion Atletico, on 77 points – 13 behind Barcelona – has sorely missed the services of Diego Costa and Filipe Luis (League champion with Chelsea in England this term) and will want a win too to secure the third spot and a Champions League group stage entry for the next season.
Diego Simeone will miss the services of suspended Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes, but will welcome the return of experienced Uruguayan defender Diego Godin, who will need to play a crucial part to bottle out the threats of Barcelona’s front trio.
Luis Enrique, in with a chance to win the treble in his first season at the helm of the Catalonia giant, however, might prefer to rest Luis Suarez, who is nursing a hamstring injury suffered during the Champions League second leg defeat to Bayern Munich. The former Spanish international, though, will not tamper with his system and either Pedro Rodriguez or Munir El-Haddadi might keep Lionel Messi and Neymar company in a three-man frontline.
For Atletico, Mario Suarez is expected to fill in for Tiago and play alongside skipper Gabi in the centre of the midfield in a 4-4-2 formation. The width and creativity for the capital club will come from Arda Turan and Koke, with Frenchman Antoine Griezmann partnering Mario Mandzukic upfront.
A resurgent Dani Alves will need to curtail his marauding runs down the right flank and keep a tab on Griezmann, who has a tendency to drift wide and exploit the space left free by overlapping full-backs.
Form guide
Atletico: DWWWDD
Barca: DWWWWW
Last Meeting
Barcelona 3, Atletico 1 - La Liga
