Barcelona hosts Atletico Madrid in the headline LaLiga fixture of this weekend. Barca's lead at the top of the table has been cut to five points following a couple of draws (against Getafe and Las Palmas) in its last three league fixtures. Atletico, on the other hand, has been in great form, winning its last five fixtures on the bounce. A win for the second-placed Roji Blancos will further reduce the gap between itself and Barcelona to two points and reignite the title race.
Here, Sportstar looks at the possible line-ups for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for Sunday's clash at the Nou Camp.
Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone has for long favoured the 4-4-2 formation and made it work a treat in every competition for Atletico. And 4-4-2 will in all likelihood be Atletico's formation against Barcelona too.
Read: Gimenez primed for Messi duel in Barca v Atleti
Jan Oblak will be the man between the posts for the clash at the Nou Camp, with Juanfran, Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, and Filipe Luis potentially lining up in a back four in front of him.
Koke, Saul Niguez, Gabi, and Angel Correa are likely to form the midfield four, engaging Barcelona's midfield man to man.
Upfront, Antoine Griezmann will play alongside former Chelsea striker Diego Costa.
Barcelona
Barcelona will most likely stick to its tried and tested 4-4-2 formation which it has employed for large parts of this season. Marc-André ter Stegen will man the posts while the experienced quartet of Jordi Alba, Samuel Umiti, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto will make up the back-four.
Valverde rues 'invisible penalty' after Barca draw
Midfield duties will be shared by Andre Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and Ivan Rakitic, and it will be interesting to see if Ernesto Valverde plays Philippe Coutinho or Ousmane Dembele on the wing. Coutinho might well feature as part of a midfield four.
Usual suspects Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will spearhead the attack and look to continue their goal-producing partnership.
Comments
SHARE