Welcome back to TalkBarca. Our topic for today is the Match Preview between Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid. We are going to face a tough side of Atletico Madrid on our home turf. Atletico is yet another tough opponent. We fans have pretty much given up hope on winning the La Liga. However, our players or the club cannot give up on anything right now. Our main concern should still be to win every game convincingly. I said this before that fortune favors the brave. Therefore, we have to remain firm and fight as much as we can. You never know.
KICKOFF TIMINGS
Kickoff timings for this game are 10 pm local time. We are back to night-time matches, and I hope this helps our players. You know it’s not like that day time is going to prevent players from playing better or night is going to benefit them. The weather only helps with energy levels and stamina as well. At the end of the day, we fans just need reasons to talk positively about our team despite their performances. The reason behind it is that we love our team, and we are always going to love them. The results do not matter.
BARCELONA VS ATLETICO MADRID
EXPECTED LINEUP
Goalkeeper:
Ter Stegen is going to start in goal. He could not manage to keep a clean sheet in the previous game. Ter Stegen also made a few mistakes at 2 or 3 moments in the previous game. However, he was also the reason that Celta was able to draw and did not end the game with a win. Stegen was phenomenal in the previous fixture. He is always there when his team needs him the most. He made crucial saves against Celta. I think we are really lucky to get even 1 point.
Defense:
Gerrard Pique and Lenglet are most likely going to start as the starting Center Backs. Nelson Semedo is going to start as the Right Back, and Jordi Alba is going to operate from the right-hand side. Semedo was not impressive in the previous fixture. However, he is normally pretty good. Semedo is one of the guys Barcelona needs to polish. We should not think about selling him any time soon. I think Semedo is the next big player when considering the future of our defense. Junior Firpo is pretty good too, but Semedo is a class-apart full-back.
Midfielders:
I think Setien is going to start with the previous midfield. However, Busquests is back from suspension. Therefore, he is most likely to start. Now there is another question about Puig. I think Puig might not start this game as well because this is a comparatively difficult fixture. I mentioned that our focus should still be on winning every game. Therefore, we are going to need some experience operating within the center of the park. My final prediction for starting midfield trio is Rakitic, Busqi, and Vidal. If Setien decides to start Puig, he is going to start above Vidal.
Wingers and Striker:
Messi and Suarez are most likely to start in this game, we all know that. The main question is that who is going to start as the Left-winger. Ansu Fati started our previous game against Celta. However, he was not as good as he normally is. The experience thing I was talking about above applies to Ansu Fati as well. Therefore, my prediction is that Setien might start Griezmann as the Left Winger. I also want this to happen because Grizzy needs more playing time. I cannot emphasize this enough. Griezmann needs playing time!
VERDICT
The final verdict from my side is that I think we are going to show improvements from our previous mistakes. I think that my team is going to provide some positivity to their fans. Barcelona is going to keep hope alive. I think Barca is going to dominate Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. The final verdict from my side is that Barcelona is going to win 2-1. Let’s see what happens. I hope my team makes me proud today.
Anyway, this is it from us. I hope you liked the content. Stay tuned for more.
Until the next time, Visca El Barca!