Atletico Madrid will come into the game with Barcelona from a very packed week, after having played Celta Vigo on Wednesday; they will have to face Barcelona, whose planned celebrations for a victory were held at bay by their rivals from Madrid; and William Hill is offering the most lucrative odds for the bet we’re about to place.
Before the game with Celta Vigo, Atletico Madrid finished the game against Deportivo La Coruna in a goalless draw where neither of the two teams was able to find that niche to open the scoring table, as neither team had any clear chances. Even though they don’t have any chances left to finish on the second place; Atletico does have the third strongest away record in la Liga though, having taken 26 points in 17 matches.
Barcelona beat Real Betis with 4-2 in a game that showed the state of decline Barca is in, seeing as they were led on the scoring table twice, but thanks to the genius they can’t play without (Leo Messi, of course) who scored twice, and David Villa who is starting to gain some confidence in the game after his injury, they won the match. This time the huge ball possession Barcelona had worked in their favor, and they managed to close the scoring table in the 71 minute.
The last head to head encounter ended up in a demolishing 4-1, where Atletico Madrid’s early goal turned into a nightmare, when Barcelona managed to score 4 times in the span of 60 minutes and close off one of the most contested games in La Liga. Atletico Madrid would have wanted to bounce back, but they didn’t have the same spirit or audacity to do so.
I’m predicting the game to be at least half as disputed as the last one was, and I still think Barcelona still has something to prove, so next Sunday at 18:00 GMT+1, I expect them to put up a fight and win again; I am putting 7 units on Barcelona’s win at 1.95 with odds from William Hill.
Atletico Madrid: Team’s formation
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Barcelona: Team’s formation
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