Altetico vs Barcelona: Will Griezmann-Gameiro or Messi-Suarez partnership prevail?
While most were focusing their attentions on the Champions League, there’s little doubt what game the managers of Atletico and Barcelona will have been watching on Wednesday night. Real Madrid had the chance to stretch their lead at the top of La Liga to four points against Valencia, with the potential to extend it further with another game in hand still to play.
However, after a dismal start from Zinedine Zidane’s side they found themselves two goals down within ten minutes, with a Cristiano Ronaldo strike just before half-time not enough to avoid an upset. The result has thrust huge significance onto this weekend’s matches, where a Madrid win would have left most feeling that their advantage was insurmountable.
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It’s put real emphasis and excitement onto the third clash of the month between Atleti and Barca, which will be decided ahead of a tough trip to Villarreal for the league leaders. Victory for the visitors would see Luis Enrique’s men leapfrog Real Madrid at the top for a matter of hours at least and ease the mounting pressure on the Barcelona boss, with that result all but condemning Diego Simeone’s side to a battle for third at best.
Should Atletico win, building on an impressive Champions League performance and result in stark contrast to their visitors' from last week, a title race that only looked likely to have one winner could revert to a four-horse race in the space of a week.
There’s little doubt that the hosts will enter the game in greater spirits following the respective European exploits of the pair, and while they’ve routinely struggled to get the better of Barcelona in the league, there is real cause for optimism. In Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro, after all, they have a strikeforce that are not only in fine form but performing as a truly lethal partnership.
It’s fair to say that hasn’t been the case all season, with modest league returns of 9 goals apiece, but the pair have certainly been on song over the past month. In fact, up to and including a 3-0 Copa del Rey win over Eibar on January 19th, Atletico’s forwards have combined for 11 goals in a very literal sense. Indeed, both players have two assists in that time, each coming for one another as Simeone’s men have rediscovered their groove going forwards.
As far as the league and Champions League is concerned, half of Griezmann’s eight assists have teed up Gameiro goals, while the latter’s six assists have all set up his compatriot. It hasn’t always been a smooth ride for the former Sevilla striker in particular, starting just 15 of 23 La Liga matches, but the chemistry he has forged with fellow Frenchman Griezmann is now clear to see and will be a real threat to a Barcelona defence that was all at sea in Paris last week.
The visitors, however, will also be confident of exploiting unfamiliar weaknesses in an Atleti defence that hasn’t been at its supreme best for some time. Indeed, with just two clean sheets in the Rojiblancos’ last nine matches in all competitions, their backline could yet be exposed.
Of course, with a front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar there’s little question that the visitors will pose a threat - despite last week’s showing at PSG - and the former pair in particular have linked up time and again this season.
While Neymar has assisted Messi seven times in the league and Champions League combined this season - the most productive combination in Europe - the Argentine has only returned the favour for the Brazilian to score once. That’s down to profligacy from Neymar rather than Messi’s reluctance to look for his fellow South American though, with Luis Suarez instead proving to be a far more reliable source of goals.
The Uruguayan is just one shy of Lionel Messi’s La Liga high of 19 goals this season, and has set up the latter for four of said strikes, as well as a further two in the Champions League. Messi, meanwhile, has assisted Suarez five times over the two competitions this season, making theirs - one ahead of Griezmann and Gameiro - the most effective partnership in terms of direct contribution to each others goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues, combining 11 times.
With all four forwards in question registering on the scoresheet when these sides met in the Copa del Rey semi-finals earlier this month, it was Messi and Suarez that narrowly came out on top. The current situation at Barcelona, however, may just allow Griezmann and Gameiro to get their revenge this weekend and throw a title race that had looked all but dead and buried wide open ahead of Real Madrid’s clash with Villarreal on Sunday night.
You can follow all of the action as Atletico host Barcelona live, with Bet365 streaming Sunday’s big match in La Liga.
