Atletico Madrid welcome Barcelona for the second leg of the Spanish Copa Del Rey, with the tie still in the balance at 4-4. With both teams often serving up high-scoring encounters, another thrilling encounter is expected here.
Atleti head into this clash following a 1-1 La Liga draw with Espanyol last weekend. That result means Diego Simeone’s men are now winless in their last five matches across all competitions, a run that saw them crash out of the Champions League.
Sitting nine points off the pace in La Liga, the Copa Del Rey is likely to be Atletico Madrid’s only genuine chance for silverware. The 4-4 draw in the first leg highlights their major problem, having failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five matches in all competitions.
Barcelona are in excellent form heading into this clash, with the 4-1 La Liga victory over Girona extending their winning run in all competitions to six matches. The Catalans are among the leading scorers in Spain at the moment, scoring three or more goals in six of their last seven matches, including the 4-4 draw in the first leg.
For all their attacking quality, Barcelona are usually left exposed at the back as evidenced by the result in the first leg. Hansi Flick’s men are without a clean sheet in three of their last four matches across all competitions.
Barcelona have a 37-19 advantage with 18 draws from 74 previous matches against Atletico Madrid. Both teams claimed away wins in their La Liga meetings this season before the 4-4 draw in the Copa Del Rey first leg.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Azpilicueta, Simeone, Gallagher, Barrios, Lino, Alvarez, Griezmann.
Barcelona: Szczęsny, Kounde, Araujo, Martinez, Balde, Gavi, Pedri, Yamal, de Jong, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
