With the top spot in the Spanish Primera Division at stake, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will meet at Vicente Calderon Stadium Saturday evening in what promises to be one of the most enthralling matches of the 2013-2014 season on any level. For all the excitement taking place in the Barclays Premier League -- with table-leading Arsenal trying to fend off chasers in Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and others -- the 2013-2014 La Liga slate has been strong as well. Tied atop the table with 49 points apiece, Barca at Atletico possess some of the top firepower across the international soccer spectrum and now that the Blaugrana are healthy at key positions once again following the returns of Leo Messi and Victor Valdes, Xavi Hernandez knows a win for Barca could propel them to greater things.
“The game against Atletico is vital for the outcome of the league,” he said recently when talking about the upcoming contest against the Barcelona league rival. “It might not turn out to be definitive, but a win would lay down a marker. We are coming into the game with some good form. We'll try and take charge and let's hope we see a good performance. We are strong and with Leo and Victor back, even more so. There's a lot of competition and the team is looking really good.”
While Barcelona is led by Messi -- who recently returned from a two-month absence due to aggravating thigh and hamstring problems -- Atletico Madrid relies on the trio of Diego Costa, David Villa and Raul Garcia for its offensive needs. Costa is second in La Liga with 19 goals -- behind only Cristiano Ronaldo’s total of 20 -- while Villa and Garcia have combined to add 14 additional tallies for an Atletico squad that owns 16 wins and 1 draw in 18 league contests. Though Barcelona is widely known as one of the strongest clubs in the world on a season-by-season basis, Costa and Los Rojiblancos do not fear their upcoming opponents, even if the best player on the planet is back in the line-up.
“Messi is Messi,” Atletico’s leading scorer said. “We all missed him while he was out. It'll be nice to have him up against us. He'll be up for it after being out for so long. But we will be making it difficult for him. We have players at the back who are capable of stopping him. It's going to be a difficult game against an opponent who have some of the world's best players but we are at home and we can make life difficult for them.”
Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Saturday, January 11
TIME: 2:00pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: beIN Sports USA / beIN Sports en Español
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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