Barcelona will host Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash on Tuesday.
The two La Liga title hopefuls will hope to hammer a huge dent into the other’s confidence ahead of a crucial run-in, while also aiding their quest to pick up major silverware with a huge victory here.
Both sides sent significant messages in the quarter-final. Barcelona put five unanswered goals past Valencia and Atletico did the same to Getafe, setting up a mouthwatering affair between two of Europe’s elite teams.
Here’s 90min‘s preview to this huge meeting.
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid head-to-head record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Barcelona |
Atletico Madrid |
|---|---|
|
Las Palmas 0-2 Barcelona – 22/2/25 |
Valencia 0-3 Atletico Madrid – 22/2/25 |
|
Barcelona 1-0 Rayo Vallecano – 17/2/25 |
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Celta Vigo – 15/2/25 |
|
Sevilla 1-4 Barcelona – 9/2/25 |
Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid – 8/2/25 |
|
Valencia 0-5 Barcelona – 6/2/25 |
Atletico Madrid 5-0 Getafe – 4/2/25 |
|
Barcelona 1-0 Alaves – 2/2/25 |
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Mallorca – 1/2/25 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Premier Sports 2 |
|
United States |
ESPN+, ESPN App |
|
Canada |
N/A |
Barcelona are sweating over the fitness of Lamine Yamal after the winger posted a photo of a foot injury picked up against Las Palmas. He didn’t train on Monday but that absence is thought to be preventative, rather than enforced.
Andreas Christensen is expected to return to the squad after overcoming his injury, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal remain unavailable.
Barcelona predicted lineup vs Atletico Madrid (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Diego Simeone has turned to goalkeeper Juan Musso in the Copa del Rey and is likely to give the Argentinian another run-out here in place of Jan Oblak.
There will also be a return to the lineup for midfielder Pablo Barrios, who was suspended for the weekend’s victory over Valencia.
Atletico Madrid predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-4-2): Musso; Molina, Gimenez, Le Normand, Galan; Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Lino; Griezmann, Alvarez
La Liga’s highest scorers meets the division’s meanest defence. One side’s resolve will be broken here.
Barcelona will dominate possession in an attempt to make home advantage count, but that will be no problem for an Atletico team gleefully willing to do the ugly work. Hansi Flick’s side must try to score but cannot forget the significant threat Los Rojiblancos pose going the other way, which was on display when Atletico won the meeting between these two sides in December.
Atletico rarely allow high-scoring games, particularly against sides of similar strength, so expect a real battle which could set up a fascinating second leg.