Ahead of yet another dull and long international break, we’re back in action in the late kick off this evening in one of the most important games of our season. Live from the Metropolitano in Madrid, kicking off at 9pm local time, it’s Barça against Atlético Madrid. Tonight is by far and away one of the biggest games of the season so far, especially in La Liga. It’s going to be a very tough test for this Barça side, for that there is no doubt. So let’s jump straight into the preview.
A Quick Look at our opponents:
Atlético Madrid have had a seriously impressive season this time around, being a major contender in all cup competitions to date. They were only recently knocked out of the champions league by Real Madrid in very controversial fashion. However, controversy seems to follow Real so we can’t be that surprised. They’re not only a team who are very strong defensively.
Being a side led by El Cholo Simeone, that comes as no surprise to anyone. But they also have some serious talent and firepower in attack too. Of course, we all know Antoine Greizmann and how important he is for them. But one of the signs of last summer, Julian Alvarez has had a brilliant debut campaign so far and, for me, is definitely one of the best attackers in Europe right now. A player who I’d love to see at Barca one day. And also, of course, we can’t forget about the bogey man himself, Alexander Sorloth. He’s already hurt us off the bench this season with his late cameos off the bench, so that is definitely something We need to keep in mind when it comes to how we approach the game.
One thing to also remember, and something that may play a part in tonight’s game however are the midweek fixtures that have just gone. We had a rarely straight forward match against Benfica. While Atleti went the full distance in their game, plus the mental strain of a penalty shootout too. That is something we have to play on and take advantage of for sure.
Predicted lineup:
Seeing as this is the last match before the international break, and the fact that we’ve had an extra days rest over Atleti, I can only imagine Flick deciding to go strong. There are only 2 questions for me co,ing into the game. And that is, will Araujo keep his place next to Iñigo tonight or will Cubarsi come back into the starting eleven after having more than a weeks rest.
And secondly, in the pivot position alongside the Matician Pedri, will it be Frenkie, Casado or even Gavi. That is something I’d love to see as I feel recently we’ve been utilising Gavi in the wrong way. Playing him from a much deeper position where he can get on the ball and still make duels, is where it’s at for me. However, for this game tonight I can see Frenkie keeping his spot, who has really been building form in recent games. And that competition is a great headache to have.
My starting lineup:
Tek
Kounde- Cubarsi- Iñigo- Balde
Pedri- Frenkie
Yamal- Olmo- Raphinha
Lewandowski
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