Atletico Madrid Vs. Barcelona Prediction: Best Chance Los Colchoneros Wins Tropical, Blaugrana Becomes A Barrier

Atletico Madrid continues to earn titles this season (photo: x @atletienglish)

JAKARTA - Atletico Madrid will face Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal in Metropolitano, Wednesday 2 April. This match is still open after the first meeting last month ended in a 4-4 draw.

The two teams are now trying to secure a place in the final to face the winner between Real Madrid or Real Sociedad.

This season Atletico Madrid are on the brink of being knocked out of the Champions League and left behind in the La Liga title race in the past month.

Diego Simeone's team suffered a series of disappointing results, starting with a 2-1 away loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League and from Getafe in La Liga.

Despite winning 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, they were finally eliminated after losing on penalties.

Another defeat came in La Liga when they had a two-goal lead, but ended up 4-2 at home against Barcelona. After the international break, they were only able to draw 1-1 against Espanyol last Saturday.

Cesar Azpilicueta's spectacular goal in the match was not enough to win, as Javi Puado equalized through the spot. The result extended Atletico's winless record in La Liga to three games, leaving them nine points behind from the top of the table with nine games remaining.

With these conditions, the Copa del Rey is Atletico's best chance to win trophies this season. Los Colchoneros last won this tournament in the 2012-13 season.

The first leg against Barcelona shows how fierce this fight is. Atletico managed to score two late goals to equalize the score to 4-4, although they had to face a bad record after failing to qualify in their last three Copa del Rey semifinals.

On the other hand, Barcelona still has the opportunity to win three additional titles after previously winning the Spanish Super Cup in January.

The Blaugrana are in outstanding form with a record of 20 matches without defeat in all competitions (17 wins, 3 draws) since losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid last December in La Liga.

They currently lead the La Liga standings, qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals, and are only one win away from their first Copa del Rey final from 2020-21.

Hansi Flick's men impressed after the international break with two consecutive home wins. They won 3-0 over Osasuna in a postponed match, then beat Girona 4-1 last Sunday thanks to two goals from Robert Lewandowski, one goal from Ferran Torres, and Ladislav Krejci's own goal.

With these results, Barcelona became the first La Liga team to score 139 goals in 45 competitive matches in one season. These statistics give them high confidence ahead of the match at Metropolitano.

Barcelona also have a positive record at home to Atletico, with their last three away wins since their 2-0 defeat in October 2021. They also managed to qualify from eight of their last nine Copa del Rey semifinals, with the only failure to occur in the 2022-23 season losing 5-1 to Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid captain Koke is still racing against time to recover from a muscle injury that has kept him out in the last eight games.

Defender Robin Le Normand is most likely to be played despite a head injury against Espanyol. However, he may have to start off the bench.

Angel Correa is still serving a five-game suspension for his comments to the referee in a 2-1 loss to Getafe.

Jose Maria Gimenez, Rodrigo De Paul, and Julian Alvarez are expected to start after only appearing as substitutes in the match against Espanyol.

Simeone was also able to lower Reinildo Mandava on the left side of the defense to face the threat of Lamine Yamal.

On the other hand, Barcelona will not be strengthened by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal, and Marc Casado. Andreas Christensen still needs to be judged further before the match.

Dani Olmo is also confirmed to be absent after suffering a thigh muscle injury against Osasuna and is expected to be sidelined for three weeks.

Pau Cubarsi isn't fit enough to start in the last two games after injury during the international break, but he can replace Ronald Araujo in the back for the game.

Frenkie de Jong has the opportunity to start again in midfield after playing as a substitute against Girona.

Raphinha is also ready to play from the start after just sitting on the bench in the match against Girona.

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2):Musso; Llorente, Gimenez, Lenglet, Reinildo; Simeone, Barrios, De Paul, Lino; Alvarez, Griezmann

Barcelona (4-2-3-1):Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski