Atletico Madrid and Barcelona go meet on Sunday night for Riyadh Air Metropolitano for one La Liga top-of-table clash wey fit shape title race. Barcelona dey top with 30 points, while Atletico Madrid dey second, two points behind, and win for Diego Simeone side go push dem above defending champions.
Barcelona know say victory go put dem five points clear of Atletico Madrid. The match go kick off by 20:00, and both teams enter am with strong form and different style.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone use him pre-match press conference praise Barcelona captain Raphinha, wey be La Liga top scorer with 15 goals. Diego Simeone talk say for him, Raphinha na extraordinary footballer with work rate, speed, goals and assists. Him also note say Raphinha dey play new number nine role under Hansi Flick and e dey do am very well.
Diego Simeone explain how Barcelona change after Robert Lewandowski leave in summer. Him talk say before, Barcelona get more positional striker for Lewandowski, but now Dani Olmo dey different from Raphinha and e fit drop into attacking midfield to link play. According to Diego Simeone, Barcelona don lose focal point because of Lewandowski, and defending against dem don become more complex because Raphinha no be traditional number nine wey dey stay inside box.
Barcelona go enter game after 6-1 win over Alaves last weekend, wey help dem bounce back from losing first El Clasico of season at Nou Camp. Barcelona don score 46 goals in 11 La Liga matches and dem score at least three goals in all five away league games this season.
Atletico Madrid no dey slack. Diego Simeone side don win seven consecutive La Liga matches, dem get best defensive record in division, and dem only concede eight goals in 11 matches. Goalkeeper Jan Oblak get five clean sheets from 11 games, while Alex Baena lead with five goals and 24 chances created.
But injury worry dey for Barcelona. Barcelona go miss Rodri, Dani Olmo, Roony Bardghji and Xavi Espart, while Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen dey face late checks. Atletico Madrid go miss Cristian Romero and Johnny Cardoso.
