On February 12, the first semifinal of the Spanish Cup will take place between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Can Flick’s team move closer to defending their title?
Despite a not very confident start to the season, Atletico are currently showing quite solid results. Over 23 rounds of the Spanish championship, the team has collected 45 points, which currently allows them to occupy 3rd place in the standings. However, the gap from the leaders, Real and Barcelona, is already quite significant—12 and 13 points, respectively. On their way to the Spanish Cup semifinals, “Los Colchoneros” knocked out Baleares, Deportivo, and Real Betis. The team also performed fairly well in the Champions League, where in 8 matches they managed to earn 13 points, finishing 14th overall and qualifying for the playoffs.
Barcelona also had problems at the start of the season, but Hansi Flick’s team adapted and is once again showing excellent results. After 23 rounds of La Liga, the Catalans have collected 58 points, which currently lets them lead the league table. However, their main rival, Real Madrid, is close behind—just one point separates them. In the Spanish Cup, Barcelona managed to overcome Guadalajara, Racing, and Albacete. In 8 Champions League matches, the “Blaugrana” earned 16 points, which was enough to take 5th place in the table and qualify for the Round of 16.
Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona: Key Stats and Trends
Over 2.5 goals have been scored in each of Barcelona’s last 7 matches.
In 23 Spanish league games, Barcelona have scored 63 goals—the best result among all teams. Real, in second place for this stat, have only 49 goals.
Barcelona have won 8 of their last 9 away matches.
Atletico Madrid have just 1 win in their last 4 games.
Atletico Madrid have conceded only 18 goals this La Liga season—the best defensive record among all teams.
Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona: Probable Starting Lineups
Atletico Madrid: Musso – Ruggeri, Gantzko, Pubill, Llorente – Griezmann, Koke, Mendoza, Simeone – Lukman Alvarez
Barcelona: Garcia – Balde, Martin, Cabarsi, Kounde – Garcia, de Jong – Lopez, Olmo, Yamal – Torres.
Previous Matches: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona
In the last 5 matches between these clubs, Barcelona have a clear advantage. The Catalans won 3 games, 1 ended in a draw, and Atletico Madrid won once. In 4 out of these 5 matches, more than 2.5 goals were scored.
In last year’s Spanish Cup semifinals, the teams scored a combined 9 goals.
Free Prediction for Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona:
In recent meetings, these teams have often exchanged plenty of goals. I believe this trend will continue today, so I’ll bet on total over 3 goals (odds – 1.6).
