Barcelona v Atletico Madrid - La Liga Preview

The Spanish La Liga season will finish at the weekend with an incredible match between the two teams that can still win the title with just ninety minutes remaining. While it is entirely predictable that Barcelona would be one of those teams, Atletico Madrid know that they are merely three hours of football away from an incredible double that was scarcely believable at the start of the year.

Atletico could pull off an unprecedented Champions League and La Liga double. And who can say that they don’t deserve it? Atlei have played outstanding football all season, and despite stumbling a little in recent weeks, they have already effectively eliminated their great rivals Real Madrid from the title race. What they wouldn’t give to see them off in the Champions League final next week...

By contrast, all is not well at the club that is supposed to be more than club, either on or off the pitch. Barca have been plunged into numerous off-field crises this term, and their form on the park has been considerably less than is expected of them. Their recent performances have been dismal, and it is well documented that coach Tata Martino is a dead man walking, with Luis Enrique thought to be in line to take over next term.

It will be deeply ironic if Barcelona manage to win the title, as this has been something of a disastrous season for them, and many of their fans actually view them as being in a bit of a state of crisis at present. Regardless of whether they manage to win this game or not, there will definitely be changes afoot at the Camp Nou next season, with Luis Enrique poised to take over the Barca hotseat next year.

Nonetheless, if they beat Atleti here, then they will end up champions in this topsy-turvy La Liga season. This is something that they’ve done emphatically in previous La Liga season, but something that they failed to do during this campaign, when Atleti eliminated them from the Champions League. Indeed, Atletico’s muscular style has been extremely difficult for the diminutive Barcelona team to play against, and they have looked vulnerable at the back, particularly to crosses, all season something that Atleti unquestionably targeted ruthlessly during their Champions League double-header.

The changes that need to be made in the summer will be more palatable if Barcelona can win La Liga for the 23rd time. And over the last few seasons, they have often produced their best performances when the pressure has really been on them. But their performances have been so bad in their last few La Liga fixtures that their confidence must have taken a pummelling.

It’s hard to write off a team that has the unequalled brilliance of Lionel Messi at its disposal, and Barca certainly have many other fantastic players as well. But their team has displayed too many flaws too evidently this year for me to believe that they’ll correct them against one of the best teams in Europe. It’s Atleti’s title for me.

Selections: Safe Bet – Draw (11/4 with BetVictor), Value Bet – Barcelona 1 – 1 Atletico Madrid (13/2 with BetVictor)

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12/05/2014     © Frixo 2026