FC Barcelona heads to the capital city for what is no doubt the headliner fixture of the La Liga weekend. When Barca travels to Atletico Madrid tomorrow it will be a matchup of two sides that secured their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 earlier this week.
Atletico beat Inter Milan 2-1 on Wednesday, squaring the tie on aggregate, and then winning the shootout 3-2.
FC Barcelona at Atletico Madrid FYIs
Kick: Sun Mar. 17, 8pm, Civitas Metropolitan Stadium, Madrid, Spain
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Preview Material for Both Sides: Starting XI Predictions Team News
La Liga Standing, Form: Atletico Madrid 4th, 55 pts, Barca 3rd, 61 pts
La Liga Form: Atletico Madrid LWDWL Barca WDWWD
Result Probability: Atletico Madrid 41% Draw 26% Barca 33%
As for Barcelona, they beat Napoli 3-1, taking the tie on aggregate 4-2. The UCL draw was held yesterday, so both sides know their opponents, and we analyzed the whole draw at this link.
That all said, let’s take a look at who could be in the first team, for both sides, in this one.
Starting XI Predictions
FC Barcelona
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Joao Cancelo; Fermin Lopez, Andreas Christensen, Ilkay Gundogan; Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Joao Felix
Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak; Stefan Savic, Axel Witsel, Cesar Azpilicueta; Rodrigo De Paul, Koke, Samuel Lino; Memphis Depay, Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.