Spanish La Liga
BarcelonaBarcelona15:15Atl MadridAtlético Madrid
Venue: Camp Nou

Barcelona v Atlético Madrid

Ronald Koeman & Diego Simeone
Ronald Koeman is hoping to win his first La Liga title, with Diego Simeone having led Atletico to league success in 2013-14

Barcelona host leaders Atletico Madrid on a pivotal weekend in the La Liga title race as Real Madrid play Sevilla.

Having trailed Atletico by 13 points in January, victory on Saturday would send third-placed Barca top for the first time this term.

Real, who are second on the same number of points as Barca, face fourth-placed Sevilla on Sunday.

Zinedine Zidane's side have the advantage of a better head-to-head record against Barca and Atletico.

'We could not imagine being where we are now'

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman, who is set to be absent from the touchline as he completes a two-match for using derogatory language towards a match official, had virtually written off his side's title chances earlier this season.

However, the Catalans have pulled themselves back into contention with 16 victories in 19 games since the turn of the year to leave themselves two points behind Atletico with four games remaining.

"I don't know if the result of this match will be decisive, but it will be important," Koeman said.

"We are fighting with two other teams for the league title. We could not imagine being where we are now a few months ago. To be champion, we need to win every game.

"I am convinced if we win every game then we will be champions."

Atletico arrive at Barcelona in indifferent form with three wins from their past six games.

But boss Diego Simeone, who is still searching for his first victory at the Nou Camp as a coach, says he has no special plans for the fixture.

"We're playing with a really clear idea this season as you can see," Simeone said. "We don't change a lot. We'll try and play using the good points of how we've been playing up to now.

"They are a side who have won a lot of points on the spin, they play good football and have done a great job in recovering from a slow first half of the season.

"We'll look to take the game in the direction we want it to go in and play our own game."

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Saturday 8th May 2021

As It Stands

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Atl Madrid34237461223976
2Real Madrid34228458243474
3Barcelona34235680334774
4Sevilla34224849272270
5Real Sociedad341411951351653
6Villarreal341313851381352
7Real Betis34149114346-351
8Granada34136154355-1245
9Ath Bilbao341112114436845
10Celta Vigo341111124651-544
11Osasuna341010143141-1040
12Cádiz341010142949-2040
13Levante34911143848-1038
14Valencia34812144351-836
15Getafe34810162640-1434
16Alavés34710172852-2431
17Real Valladolid34516133246-1431
18Huesca34612163250-1830
19Elche34612162950-2130
20Eibar34511182646-2026
View full Spanish La Liga table

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