FC Barcelona – Atletico Madrid La Liga 17.05.2014

 

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FC Barcelona – Atletico Madrid 17.05.2014

FC Barcelona – Atletico Madrid – Spanish Primera has reached its end and the final round will resolve all the remaining dilemmas. The biggest one is who will be the new champion and that will be resolved exactly by this match at the Camp Nou. In the previous two rounds the favourites played poorly and haven’t won, so Real Madrid is out of the race and Barcelona and Atletico will decide about the champion in a head-to-head match. The mathematic is clear and Barcelona needs only a victory, while for Atletico a draw would be just fine. The host has drawn two times in a row, while Atletico lost once and drew once. The two teams have played five times this season and four times the result was a tie, while Atletico won once, which was enough to eliminate Barcelona from the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Begins: 17.05.2014 – 18:00 CET

FC Barcelona

Barcelona, overall looking, has a bad season but a great opportunity showed at the end to finally win a trophy, more precisely, to defend the title of Spain’s champion. They themselves didn’t expect that and almost had given up after they were eliminated early from the Champions League and after they lost the final of the King’s Cup. They lost in that period a match against Granada and had a lot of trouble against Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal. Somehow, they won these matches but then only drew with Getafe and there could have been an end of hope. However, it was not over because the other two competitors for the title have also played badly, so Barcelona could afford a draw in the last round with Elche.

Now are in a situation that puts them in the role of a favourite, because they need to win at home. Atletico obviously doesn’t suit them as an opponent and they couldn’t win it this season, scoring only two goals in five matches. Valdes, Neymar, Pique and Jordi Alba will not play this match, who for some time haven’t been standard starters, so there will be no big changes in the starting lineup.

Probable lineups FC Barcelona: Pinto – Dani Alves, Mascherano, Bartra, Adriano – Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – A. Sanchez, Messi, Pedro

 

Atletico Madrid

Atletico will start this decisive match with a certain advantage, because it has three points more and even a modest draw suits them in full. It should also have a psychological advantage, because the Catalans haven’t defeated them this season while Atletico won their two head-to-head matches played in the Champions League. However, in minds of Atletico’s players is certainly the match of the last round against Malaga in which they were the hosts and could have been solve all dilemmas if they won.

Playing under a huge pressure they have received a goal, so they chased the advantage that the guests had and they managed to equalise, while in the last moments they had a great chance to win. Surely, they even now think about that situation which could inhibit them in crucial moment of this match. Their best player Diego Costa didn’t play in that match, which was felt very much, and stopper Godin paused because of yellow cards. Both should be ready for this match, which means that the strongest team will fight this decisive battle.

Probable lineups Atletico Madrid: Courtois – Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe – Tiago, Gabi – Koke, Arda Turan – Villa, Diego Costa

 

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