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La Liga leaders Barcelona welcome third-place Atletico Madrid to Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday, with Diego Simeone's men look to snatch runners-up tag if bitter rivals Real Madrid slip up at any point.
Xavi's Barca have pretty much secured top spot ahead of both Los Blancos and Atleti as they sit comfortably at the top of the table, sitting eight points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, while the Rojiblancos occupy third position, only five points behind their Madrid rivals having played a game less.
However, coming off the back of successive draws, the hosts cannot afford too many dropped points if they want to avoid some late drama creeping in.
The last two results and the terrible performances, coupled with Real Madrid’s win on Saturday have reduced Barça’s lead at the top of the table to just eight points, albeit the Blaugrana have a game in hand.
Thus, there's a feeling that La Liga title race is not over yet, and another Barça failure to win on Sunday will make things very interesting with eight games to go and a very tricky schedule in the next three weeks for the leaders.
With six straight victories and ten wins in the last thirteen games, Atletico Madrid has been in a truly impressive form since the turn of the year.
Unfortunately for them, their poor start of the season is costing them a lot as on current form, they could have easily been a genuine contender for the title in a season both Barcelona and Real have faltered somewhat.
Diego Simeone has once again figured out how to get the best out of his team, and Antoine Griezmann has once become one of the best La Liga players since his move from Barça to Atleti was made permanent. They have more of an attacking flair this year without losing their robustness and defensive structure, and could pose all sorts of problems for a Barça team low on confidence and struggling to score.
This one should be fun with a few goals but Atleti have a great chance to crank up the pressure for second spot. As always, this is one of the Spanish football calendar's most-awaited fixtures and a prestigious battle between two teams with star studded rosters.
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid confirmed lineups
Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Alonso, Balde; de Jong, Busquets, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Ferran
Atletico Madrid XI (3-5-2): Oblak; Hermoso, Savic, Gimenez; Molina, De Paul, Witsel, Lemar, Carrasco; Correa, Griezmann
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid LIVE updates
Barcelona's upcoming fixtures
While Barcelona are seemingly on their way to the title, there are still eight games left in the season after this one. Xavi's men will come up against another team from Madrid in the form of surprise package Rayo Vallecano before squaring up against Real Betis back at Spotify Camp Nou on 30th April.