Atletico host LaLiga leaders Barcelona on Sunday with Madrid side still reeling from defeat by Real in Champions League.
Who: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona
What: Spanish LaLiga
Where: Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Spain
When: Sunday at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
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Atletico Madrid doesn’t have much time to linger on its painful Champions League exit against Real Madrid.
Another crucial game awaits on Sunday, this time against Barcelona in the tight battle for the Spanish league title.
media looks ahead to one of the biggest games in the Spanish football calendar:
Atletico are a point behind Barcelona in second and four points behind leaders Madrid in the three-way fight for the trophy.
Real have played two more games than Barca and one more than Atletico.
So Diego Simeone’s team can hardly afford to lose on Sunday but must quickly get over another excruciating defeat to their fierce crosstown rival in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico lost in a penalty shootout to Real after Julian Alvarez’s spot kick was disallowed for a double touch. Only a video review spotted the first contact when Alvarez’s support foot slid and gently nudged the ball before he impacted it with his other foot and sent it into the net.
“Honestly, it isn’t easy to get over the way we lost this tie. We can’t lie to ourselves,” Simeone said after the match.
Simeone acknowledged that Barcelona could have an advantage both physically and emotionally after Hansi Flick’s side got an extra day’s rest after their victory against Benfica on Tuesday to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.
“We face a great rival on Sunday. I imagine the Barcelona players were wanting our game to go as long as it could, to reach penalties,” Simeone said. “We will arrive tired and beat up after having fought hard in a tie that demanded we give it our all, but we will throw everything we have left” at Barcelona.
Atletico have confounded Barcelona twice this season. Late goals by Alexander Sorloth snatched a 2-1 win at Barcelona in the league and a 4-4 draw in the opening leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.
But Barcelona have gone unbeaten in 17 straight games across all competitions since that loss to Atletico in late December.
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