La Liga: It’s a Barca and Atleti Face-Off!

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid

This is by far the most exciting title race in Europe and La Liga will take another twist any one of three ways when Barcelona come face-to-face with Atletico Madrid on Saturday afternoon at the Camp Nou.

While the Premier League, Serie A, and Bundesliga are pretty much done and dusted, it’s simply too close to call in Spain with the latest La Liga 2021 betting odds here at SBOTOP giving all three teams a fairly even chance.

Barcelona have the slightest edge at odds of 2.33 with Los Rojiblancos at 2.60 and Real Madrid may be the outsiders, but they’re still at a small price of 3.30.

Los Blancos could benefit if this match ends in a draw, but Zinedine Zidane’s side has a huge game of its own – at home to fourth-placed Sevilla who have been on a superb run.

It will be a hard fought match at the Camp Nou. But with Lionel Messi in fantastic form, the Blaugrana could deliver a significant blow on Saturday.

Talking Points

Messi can help Koeman win his first La Liga

Barca head coach Ronald Koeman looked odds on to pick up his first league title as boss when his side came from behind to beat Villarreal two weeks ago, while both the Madrid teams dropped points.

But then, the Blaugrana slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat to Granada last week and the title race was blown wide open again.

Koeman, whose job is under some pressure, would dearly love to win La Liga having already won the Copa del Rey. And winning the Doblete would go a long way to securing the Dutch master a second season.

If he does, he’ll have his captain and talisman to thank. Messi is the hot favourite to win the Golden Boot with 28 goals and he’s seven ahead of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

He has bagged his goals at a rate of one every 98 minutes – which is way ahead of Luis Suarez who has scored one every 114 minutes, while Benzema is at 122 minutes per goal.

Messi scored a sublime double in a win over Valencia last weekend and will be keen to help his side make further amends for the loss to Granada.

With Ansu Fati still out injured, the Argentina international will line up alongside the improving Antoine Griezmann, who has 12 goals and seven assists in the campaign.

Can Atleti rediscover their consistency?

Los Rojiblancos had their own setback in a recent 2-1 defeat away to Athletic Bilbao but they recovered to beat Elche last weekend to hang on to the top spot.

But having led the league for much of the season, seemingly racing towards the title, a sequence of five wins from the last 10 games has dragged them back into the pack of three.

Can Atletico Madrid rediscover their consistency to maintain their position at the top of La Liga? — Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente celebrates scoring their first goal against Elche

Former Barca man Luis Suarez has 19 goals but has slowed a little in recent games while Marcos Llorente, with 12 goals and eight assists, has stepped up to drive Atleti’s title bid onwards.

They sit two points ahead of both Barca and Real Madrid, and if they can somehow win at the Camp Nou they will be firmly in the driver’s seat.

Head coach Diego Simeone has more creative armoury in the form of winger Angel Correa — who has seven goals and seven assists — and the boss has been boosted by the return from injury of Thomas Lemar and Joao Felix, with only left back Renan Lodi still on the sidelines.

History

Barcelona have had the better of the 64 head-to-head meetings over the past quarter of a century, winning 31, drawing 16, and losing 17.

Atletico are unbeaten in the last three in all competitions, beating the Blaugrana 1-0 on match day 10 at the Wanda Metropolitano when Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal of the game deep into first half injury time.

The last meeting here at the Camp Nou ended in a 2-2 draw. But when playing at home, the Catalans have not lost to the Madrid side in 20 encounters in the league and have a strong home record of nine wins, four draws, and two defeats during this campaign.