Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona: Match preview, predicted line-ups, team news, and prediction
Atletico Madrid welcome Barcelona to the Metropolitano Stadium in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday evening.
Atleti thrashed Real Betis 5-0 in the quarter-final, reaching this stage of the competition for the third consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Barcelona claimed a 2-1 victory over lower-division side Albacete.
Match preview
Atleti lost 5-4 on aggregate to eventual champions Barcelona last term and will be aiming for a revenge.
The hosts dug deep to beat fourth division side Atletico Baleares 3-2 in the round of 32 and Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 in the round of 16, before facing Betis.
Atleti head into this match off the back of 1-0 home loss to Betis in the La Liga, highlighting their inconsistency this season.
The Rojiblancos lost 3-1 to Barcelona in the league in December, but were competitive, despite the result suggesting otherwise.
Atleti are expected to surrender possession to the visitors and look to exploit their high defensive line, just like they did last time out.
Barcelona are aiming to defend their title and will hope to gain an advantage here before next month’s second leg.
The Blaugrana edged CD Guadalajara 2-0 in the round of 32, beat Racing Santander by the same scoreline in the round of 16, and then defeated Albacete last time out.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last six games across all competitions and are still competing on all fronts.
The visitors will look to play in-between the lines, use the trickery and pace of their wingers, while maintaining a high defensive line.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last eight Copa del Rey meetings with Atleti, and are the favourites to progress to the final for the second consecutive season.
Team news
The hosts will be without Pablo Barrios, while Jonny Cardoso is doubtful.
For Barcelona, Pedri will sit this one out, while Raphinha is a doubt.
Predicted line-ups
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Juan Musso, Marcos Llorente, David Hancko, Jose Maria Gimenez, Matteo Ruggeri, Thiago Almada, Koke, Rodri Mendoza, Alex Baena, Giuliano Simeone, Ademola Lookman, Antoine Grizzman.
Barcelona (4-3-3): Joan Garcia, Joao Cancelo, Ronaldo Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Bernal, Dani Olmo, Marcus Rashford, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski.
Prediction
We fancy a 3-2 win for Barcelona.
Stats from transfermarkt.com