La Liga: Barca and Atleti in a Camp Nou Showdown

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid

La Liga action returns to the Spotify Camp Nou on Tuesday and it doesn’t get much bigger than Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, under the lights in the spectacular newly renovated stadium. 

The Blaugrana have already played at their spiritual home twice after a 900 day wait to return. Some players had never represented the Catalans at the Camp Nou but they have already recorded back-to-back wins in their iconic stadium, winning 3-1 at home to Deportivo Alaves on Saturday, and they are itching to make it three from three.

But Hansi Flick’s men meet a side in superb form. Diego Simeone’s Rojiblancos had a 2-0 home win over Real Oviedo to make it six league wins on the bounce, and they sit just three points behind their hosts. Depending on the outcome of Real Madrid’s match away to Girona on Sunday night, Barca could enter the clash on Tuesday as league leaders; and, as they have not yet been firing on all cylinders, the Blaugrana will be confident of defending their title from the two Madrid giants.

Two of the most feared strikers in European football will come face to face at the Camp Nou. Barca’s Robert Lewandowski has eight goals while Atleti’s Julian Alvarez has seven, alongside Barca’s Ferran Torres with seven; and these stars, along with the likes of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal will make Tuesday’s La Liga 2025 highlights well worth a watch. 

 

Talking Points

Barcelona looking for defensive excellence

In a very rare experience for Barca fans the Blaugrana suffered a shocker of a night in West London last week as they were soundly beaten by Chelsea, 3-0 in the Champions League, but they responded well to beat Deportivo Alaves and return to the top of the La Liga table, two points clear of Real Madrid before Los Blancos visit Girona in the late Sunday kick-off.

While Lewi and Torres had a day off from scoring on Saturday, two goals from Dani Olmo and one from Yamal were enough to beat Alaves, and Barca’s attacking unit looked as fluid and dangerous as ever. If anything Flick needs to work on his team’s defensive resilience. Barca have conceded ten goals in their last six games and kept only one clean sheet, in the 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao last week. He has two young stars in his rearguard, with centre back Pau Cubarsi improving week on week, and summer signing Joan Garcia in goal, in place of the injured Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. If Barca can tighten up in defence they will become an irresistible force again and the SBOTOP La Liga 2025 betting odds will be worth watching closely.  

 

Atletico Madrid are relentless

Simeone’s team has been one of the most consistently successful over the past decade, renowned for its defensive prowess and ability to soak up pressure, then strike like a cobra, with Antoine Griezmann often pulling the strings in attack. While Barca had a bad night in Europe last week, Los Rojiblancos had a great result, beating Inter Milan 2-1 and the red hot Alvarez was on target again.

The win over Real Oviedo made it six from six in all competitions in November, and a run of seven wins overall, scoring 14 goals and conceding just three in the month, to show just how good Atleti are at both ends of the pitch. While Alvarez had a well earned rest and started on the bench on Saturday, his co striker Alexander Sorloth scored twice in the first half to give Los Rojiblancos a comfortable victory.

Behind the front line, former Chelsea star Conor Gallagher is an energetic box to box player, breaking up opposition attacks and carrying the ball forward, and the experienced Jose Gimenez marshals the defence while being a threat from set-pieces, heading home a corner from Griezmann to score the late winner against Inter Milan.          

 

History

Barcelona have had the better of the head to heads with Atletico this century, winning 32 to Atleti’s 12 and there have been 15 draws, while at the Camp Nou the Blaugrana have 17 wins to four.   

With four wins, one draw and one defeat from the last six games (both setbacks were in the Champions League), Flick’s men are in good form to meet a side with seven wins from seven.    

 

Betting Tip

Barcelona had a happy homecoming to the Camp Nou as they whacked Athletic Bilbao 4-0 and they followed that up with a comfortable victory over Alaves. The Draw is priced at 4.00 and Atleti is at 3.85, but I’m backing the hosts to carry on their form at home and, for an alternative bet, a 2-1 home win can be backed at 7.50.  

   

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