Five things that will happen in World Football this week

How Atletico will attempt to beat Barcelona

The most exciting game over the Weekend is the top of the table clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. The two are completely tied at the top with only goal difference separating the sides. The winner at the Vicente Calderon will take top spot in the league, a race that seems will go right down to the wire.

Diego Costa has been on top form this season, contributing 40% of his sides’ goals this season (19) and keeping at par with Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal-scoring charts for much of the season. The recently turned Spanish national has scored  in 14 of Atletico’s 18 league fixtures. The Barca defence know that keeping the striker quiet upfront would aid in getting a result off of Simeone’s men.

Simeone has alternated between playing Costa alone upfront or sticking a partner (David Villa) up there with him. The big man even played in a deeper second striker role in Atletico’s 7-0 victory over Getafe earlier in the season.

Now Simeone has to chalk out a plan to keep Barca quiet in the midfield area, an assured and discipline defensive approach in their own half is vital for the home side. But more importantly, the Argentine manager will have to have an assured strategy with how he intend to deploy Costa. He most likely will ask Diego Costa to stay up field throughout the game, playing off the shoulders of the last defender. What this does is, besides always having an attacking avenue, it will indirectly prevent the Barca defence from moving further up field, essentially creating a sort of gap between the Barca midfield and defence.

This is where the in-form Koke can step in and create opportunities for the front-man, exploiting the gap and playing in between the lines. The youngster had a great game against Malaga last week, Koke’s forward attacking movement will further act as a counter-defensive tactic as the Barca midfield will be pulled back to assist the back four, further stagnated their attack. It could ultimately lead to an isolated Barca attacking third. Koke has created 8 assists this season, only beaten by Barca’s Fabregas who has 10. You can read a detailed Scout Report on Koke here.

The game also marks the return of a certain Lionel Messi after a long injury lay-off. He scored on his return in the Copa del Rey, but ideally, the Argentine would have preferred a different opposition at a different venue to return to competitive league action.

This could arguably be Simeone’s most important test, victory in this clash could install Simeone’s men as genuine title contenders despite the usual concerns of depth when compared to the Barca-Real duo.