It is that time of the year when Barca and Atléti collide. The Blaugranas will host Atletico on Saturday night at Estádio Olimpic Lluis Companys. This encounter promises to be challenging and edgy for fans on both sides. Discover this match’s possible outcomes and some useful betting tips for Nigerian bettors in our review.
Barcelona – Atletico Madrid Head-to-Head Analysis
Despite Atléti’s status as one of the most competitive teams in Spanish La Liga, they have almost always suffered at Barcelona’s hands. Find out the historical data between these two below.
| General Details | Barcelona Lineup (Predicted) | Atletico Madrid Lineup (Predicted) |
|---|---|---|
| Date: 21/12/2024 Time: 21:00 Stadium: Olímpic Lluís Companys Where to watch: Supersport 204, StarTimes App, DStv Now, GOtv | Iñaki Peña Sergi Roberto Ronald Araújo Jules Koundé Alejandro Balde Frenkie de Jong Ilkay Gündoğan Pedro “Pedri” González Lamine Yamal Robert Lewandowski Ferran Torres | Jan Oblak Axel Witsel, Mario Hermoso, Caglar Soyuncu Nahuel Molina, Marcos Llorente, Koke, Saul Niguez, Samuel Lino Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann |
Historic Performances
Barcelona has won 24 of 42 encounters with Atléti. The latter, on the other hand, has tasted victory in eight fixtures like this one. There have also been ten drawn matches between these two teams.
Barcelona’s biggest win against Atletico happened in 2008 when the latter lost six goals to one. Atléti, however, had their biggest revenge in 2009, winning 4 – 3 at the Metropolitano stadium.
The Blaugranas have always found it easy to win despite the grounds on which they play. They’ve had similar counts of wins at home and away at the Metropolitano against Atléti in the Spanish La Liga. Furthermore, Barcelona rarely loses a home game against the Los Colchoneros.
Recent Encounters
Barcelona has won all four of their last four encounters. The last time they lost against this opponent was in October 2021 at the Metropolitano, when they lost by two goals to nil.
Last season, Barcelona kept a clean sheet in their league meetings. The home game ended in a 1 – 0 victory for the Blaugranas, and the away game ended in a 0 – 3 win, too. Atléti and Diego Simeone will be keen to break this chain of losses this coming Saturday. However, can they? Read more below.
Key Factors Influencing the Match
No information is insignificant when it comes to football predictions. So, we went to great lengths to identify other factors that may influence the result of the Barca vs. Atléti match on Saturday.
Previous Match
We must look at how these two teams fared against their last opponents in the league. Barcelona fell to another needless defeat against Leganés following their disappointing draw against Real Betis the other week.
Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, is on an 11-game unbeaten streak, having won by one goal to nothing on Saturday against Getafe. So, Barcelona is likely to be hyped to return to winning ways, while Atléti will want to extend their win record and possibly take over the first position on the Spanish La Liga table.
Players
Barcelona has been quite disappointing lately compared to the start of the season. The defense, however, has regressed, leading to some embarrassing results recently.
However, Barcelona’s front three were firing on all cylinders until the last game, when they were held goalless for 90 minutes. Robert Lewandowski is on 16 league games, and Raphinha is on 11. Special recognition goes to the 17-year-old talent, Lamine Yamal, who has scored five and assisted nine goals this season.
On the other hand, Atletico has had its forwards performing well these last few weeks. Antoine Griezmann and Julian Álvarez have been key to Diego Simeone’s recent success. The duo have managed seven and five goals this season. Griezmann has also provided four assists, too.
Other top performers include the seven-goal striker Alexander Sorloth and midfielders Rodrigo de Paul and Marcos Llorente. All of these players could be lethal against the Blaugranas on Saturday.
Home Advantage
As we already discussed, Barcelona rarely loses at home against Atletico. Only two out of the eight defeats the Blaugranas have suffered in the hands of Atléti came at home. The home fans are surely going to enjoy this one.
Betting Tips
Atletico Madrid has been on a great run of victories over the last few weeks. However, the recency bias does not take away the years of humiliation they’ve endured against Barcelona. Will history repeat itself, or will Barcelona be its own worst enemy yet again? Below are our predictions based on the facts we have:
Betting Odds
Barcelona to Win – 1.90 | Draw – 3.90 | Atletico Madrid to Win – 3.90
The odds above came from top football gambling sites in Nigeria. You can see that Barca is favored to win this fixture. Nonetheless, these odds further support our position and predictions for Saturday night’s Barcelona vs Atléti match.
Final Thoughts on the Match
It’s yet another one-sided fixture in La Liga. These two teams, Barca and Atléti, have not been close historically or recently. However, based on Barca’s poor form and Atletico’s recent wins, we might be in for a surprise come Saturday. Visit our website anytime to enjoy reading more analyses like this one.
Samuel Okunsolawo is an iGaming expert with over six years of experience in content writing. His passion for simplifying complex concepts makes his articles accessible and useful for beginners and experts alike. With a focus on sports betting trends and reliable betting sites, Samuel’s articles are an excellent resource for those seeking guidance and staying up to date in the world of iGaming.