CORNERFLICK
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meet at the Metropolitano on Sunday night in La Liga matchweek 12, with first place on the line.
Atletico chase the summit
Diego Simeone’s side sit third on 28 points and can move top with an eighth straight league win. Atletico have won their last seven La Liga matches, conceded only eight goals and scored 22 in the league this season.
Simeone also has a chance to move clear as the club’s outright leader for La Liga wins. He is level with Luis Aragonés on 344 league victories from 565 matches.
Atletico have scored seven goals from build-up play this season, behind only Barcelona in that area, and have completed 5,668 passes with an average of 4.75 passes per attack. Their last European result was a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich on matchday four of the Champions League.
Barcelona bring the league’s top attack
Barcelona top the table on 30 points and have scored 46 goals in 11 league matches. That is one short of Athletic Bilbao’s record of 49 goals in 11 La Liga games in 1930-31.
Raphinha leads their attack with 15 goals in 10 league appearances, a tally matched only by Cristiano Ronaldo after 10 matches in 2014-15.
Hansi Flick’s side have won all five of their away league games this season, scoring at least three times in each. Their defeats to Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season and to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League have shown they can be exposed against stronger opposition.
Team news
Atletico are without Cristian Romero and Johnny Cardoso through injury, while Morgan Hjulmand is back available after a spell out.
Barcelona are missing Dani Olmo, Roony Bardghji and Xavi Espart. Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen face late medical checks, while Rodri will also miss out after a hamstring injury against Aston Villa in Champions League matchday four. Marc Bernal could start alongside Pedri in midfield.