Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

With Real Madrid out of the competition, the winners of this game will go into May’s final as firm favourites to lift the trophy. That makes this a huge game for two sides who haven’t been entirely convincing this season. They know each other extremely well thanks to a host of recent meetings in various competitions and given this is a 1st Leg as well, this has the potential to be a cagey affair, certainly by the standards of Barcelona matches.

The Catalans would surely be content to return to Barcelona next week on level terms and they aren’t playing well enough to suggest they’ll come here and win. They rescued a point late on at Real Betis at the weekend in a game overshadowed by a disallowed Barcelona goal which was clearly over the line. It made La Liga’s failure to implement goal-line technology look ridiculous but rather took the heat off Luis Enrique and his side, who were second best at times against a limited Betis outfit.

They are badly missing the passing quality of Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in the middle of the park. Without them they lack control and there is a risk that their front three could become quite isolated against a side as strong as Atletico Madrid and certainly they won’t receive the same sort of service they would otherwise.

If there is hope for Barca, it comes from Atleti being quite unconvincing themselves. They’ve drawn their last 3 matches in all competitions and are surely now out of the title race. However, that may only serve to focus their attentions more on the Copa del Rey. This will be the final time a Spanish Cup match is played at the Vicente Calderon, which should help generate an excellent atmosphere, which should help the hosts.

Atleti are perhaps not playing well enough to back outright for the win, but they are still very tough to beat, particularly at home. They’ve played 27 matches at home over the past 12 months, losing just twice and one of them was in a cup game when they had a significant 1st Leg advantage and rested players. They have also suffered only 1 defeat in their last 10 games overall in all competitions so their form is by no means disastrous.

Antoine Griezmann has also looked sharper since the turn of the year. He is still very much their go-to man for a bit of inspiration and with goals in 5 of his last 7 appearances for the club, backing Griezmann to score anytime at 13/8 looks a very tempting bet here.

A draw would be a good result for Barcelona and they have only won 3 of their last 8 away games in all competitions. With home advantage and given Atleti also have fewer absentees, there looks to be value in backing Double Chance – Atletico Madrid or Draw at 3/5.