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FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are the two clubs with the most points so far in 2023 and they’ll meet in one of the most exciting duels remaining this season
This Sunday, the Spotify Camp Nou will host the eagerly anticipated league meeting between the two best teams of the 2023 calendar year. FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid will face off in one of the most interesting matches remaining this season and they’ll do so at a key moment for both teams, as both clubs are very close to achieving the objectives they set out at the start of the season. Xavi’s side are calculating the maths to work out when they can confirm the LaLiga Santander title if results keep going their way, while Diego Simeone’s side have opened up a significant gap on their rivals for the Champions League places.
Since FC Barcelona took all three points from the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano on January 8th, back in Matchday 16, Atlético de Madrid have not lost another league game. In fact, if measuring the standings over just the last 13 rounds, the ones that have been played since that duel between Los Rojiblancos and Los Azulgranas, Simeone’s side would be leaders and undefeated. Since then, they have taken 33 points, courtesy of 10 wins and three draws, while Barça have 32 points from 10 wins, two draws and one defeat.
This great run of results has allowed the capital city side to inch ever closer to second place, which is currently just two points away and occupied by Real Madrid. As such, this weekend’s match at the Spotify Camp Nou could be a litmus test to see if Simeone’s team will fight for that second position currently held by Los Blancos over the final weeks of the season.
Griezmann will challenge his former teammate Ter Stegen
If singling out one player for Los Rojiblancos’ improvement, it would have to be Antoine Griezmann, the top assister in LaLiga Santander with eight. With his two goals in the last matchday against UD Almería, he also helped Atlético de Madrid become the only team in the competition with two players on 10 goals or more: Griezmann’s 11 and Álvaro Morata’s 10. But, those forwards will this weekend come up against a goalkeeper who is making history.
Marc-André ter Stegen has averaged 0.31 goals conceded per game so far in LaLiga Santander, meaning he is threatening the record currently shared by Jan Oblak in 2015/16 and Paco Liaño in 1993/94, when they each let in 0.47 goals per game. FC Barcelona’s German goalkeeper has been beaten just once in the last 10 matchdays, making this fixture a real challenge for the strikers of Los Colchoneros. The goalkeeper’s statistics are even more impressive at the Spotify Camp Nou, where he has conceded just two goals in 14 matches in all league campaign.
In addition to the impressive performers already mentioned, this game will also feature the current Pichichi leader Robert Lewandowski, as well as other top talents like Ronald Araújo, Jules Koundé, Gavi, Raphinha, José María Giménez, Yannick Carrasco, Koke and Ángel Correa. Plus, there’s the intriguing duel of Xavi and Simeone in the dugouts. So, this fixture has all the ingredients necessary to make this one of the best matches of the LaLiga Santander season, as the two best teams of the 2023 calendar year meet. After these impressive sides face off, it could even shake up the standings further.
