5 reasons why Barcelona will struggle against Atletico Madrid tonight | La Liga 2020-21
Barcelona host Atletico Madrid today in what could be a potential La Liga title decider.
This could prove to be the most important weekend of the 2020-21 season. A three-way race is underway for the La Liga title with fourth-placed Sevilla also possessing an outside chance. Barcelona take on Atletico Madrid today while Real Madrid lock horns with Sevilla on Sunday night.
Atletico Madrid looked on course to win the La Liga title until a dreadful dip in form in recent times enabled the chasing pack to bridge the gap and breathe down their necks. However, they still maintain a two-point lead with Real Madrid and Barcelona. But that won't exist anymore if they lose the game against Barcelona today.
Barcelona let go of a great opportunity to go atop the La Liga table a week and a half ago when they suffered a shock defeat to Granada. Barcelona had started the season on a poor note, reeling from the implosion at the club and struggling to find their feet under a new manager.
However, they have turned it around and it remains to be seen whether they can cap it off with a domestic double after having already won the Copa Del Rey. Without further ado, let's take a look at five reasons why Barcelona will struggle against Atletico Madrid.
#5 Barcelona's usual style will play right into Atletico Madrid's hands
Atletico Madrid will be happy to allow Barcelona to retain possession for the majority of the game. It's a style that suits them. The Rojiblancos will look to hit Barcelona on the break and it is something that has proven to be really effective against the Catalans.
Whenever Barcelona pin too much importance on retaining possession, they end up losing a lot of intensity in the bargain. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid do not rest on their laurels and when in possession, they progress the ball much quicker than their Saturday opponents.
Villarreal and Granada have executed this plan against Barcelona in recent weeks, with the latter going on to pick up a surprise win against the Catalans. Atletico Madrid pack more firepower than either of those teams and will test the Barcelona defence regularly tonight.
#4 Atletico Madrid have more goalscoring diversity
While Barcelona have been a bit over-reliant on Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann for goals in recent weeks, Atletico Madrid have seen goals coming from a variety of players. In fact, their frontline of Luis Suarez and Angel Correa have been very effective playing together.
Angel Correa has scored seven goals and provided eight assists in the La Liga this season. Yannick Carrasco has been incredibly productive this season, scoring five goals and providing eight assists from the left wing.
Marcos Llorente has scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists this season. Additionally, they also have Joao Felix, who is likely to come off the bench as an impact-sub today. Felix has seven goals and four assists to his name.
What this means is that Diego Simeone has a number of players who are used to finding the back of the net and one of them is most likely to fire for them when push comes to shove.