Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid: Atleti’s defense against Robert Lewandowski leading La Liga’s best attack

Barcelona host Atletico Madrid on Saturday in a battle between La Liga’s top two with Hansi Flick and Diego Simeone’s teams level on 38 points for now. The big difference is that Barca have played one game more so this game takes on added importance for the Catalans on home soil. With results having suffered in recent weeks, this meeting comes at a critical juncture and is arguably a must-win clash now for the Blaugrana. Even if Barca do triumph, though, there is still the matter of Real Madrid who are one point back of both sides and could benefit significantly from a draw in Catalonia.

We look at a few main features ahead of this one.

Barca outscoring Atleti

With this pitting Spain’s top two together, both sides rank fairly high in the respective key metrics such as goals scored. Not only is this a top of the table meeting, it is also two of the three highest scorers in La Liga going head to head with Barca boasting 50 goals so far and Atleti 19 fewer on 31, which is still relatively prolific in the Spanish topflight this campaign. Robert Lewandowski leads the way on 16 goals scored so far this term while Atleti’s Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sorloth have only scored less than half individually and not even as many with their combined total standing at 14.

Can Barca break Atleti down?

While Barca are clearly the most prolific of these two rivals, there is no doubt that Atleti win the battle between the two defenses, which could perhaps tilt this clash in their favor. Simeone’s men have conceded nine fewer goals than Flick’s and have enjoyed an upturn in UEFA Champions League form too, which suggests that they are shedding their problematic road form since beating Paris Saint-Germain. Big wins away at Sparta Praha and Real Valladolid were particularly impressive but no fewer than four clean sheets from their last eight across all competitions suggests that this one could be particularly tricky for the home side.

How to watch

• Date: Saturday, December 21 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
• Watch: ESPN Deportes | Stream: Fubo (try for free)

Both wary of Real

The other undoubted factor in all of this will be that both Barca and Atleti know that any slip up could let Real move into top spot so a draw suits neither side here. One point could be enough to keep Los Blancos in check if they tie their game in hand, but a clear winner here has the advantage as Real play catch up so expect both sides to really want all three points here. Atleti are up against Carlo Ancelotti’s side before Barca so this arguably make this an opportunity to seize some degree of control over the title race.

No Yamal, no party

With Barca’s star man currently injured, the Catalans look a little less formidable going forward and certainly struggled against Leganes recently. Home games away from Camp Nou seem to unnerve Flick’s troops with Leganes and Las Palmas both winning in Catalonia of late so perhaps a seed of doubt has been sown which has coincided with losing star man Yamal for a few weeks. Not only could this prove problematic in La Liga, it could also slow them down at the start of 2025 although the Champions League is sorted for at least a knockout berth with the top eight still very possible.