Crunch time for Atleti as Barca test leaves no room for error

Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title challenge has been floundering for a while and if they lose at home to Barcelona on Sunday, it could be over before it really began.

Barca sit three points ahead of Atletico in the table and have a game in hand to come against Real Madrid, after their match in October was postponed until Dec.18.

It means defeat for Atleti this weekend would give their opponents a six-point advantage, with the possibility of either Real Madrid or Barcelona extending that to nine with a victory in next month’s Clasico.

That would be a formidable gap to close, particularly given Diego Simeone’s side have to play away at the top two in the second half of the season, limiting their ability to cut any deficit in head-to-heads.

Alvaro Morata has six goals in his last eight games for his club but the pressure on him to take the few chances that come his way is high.

Diego Costa, meanwhile, has long lost the art of goalscoring and is injured, expected out for at least another two months.

When Atletico signed Joao Felix for a record 126 million euros in July the hope was he might unlock some much-needed attacking impetus.

Agence France-Presse


Spanish League fixtures (times GMT):

Friday: Celta Vigo vs Real Valladolid (2000);
Saturday: Alaves vs Real Madrid (1200), Real Sociedad vs Eibar (1500), Mallorca vs Real Betis (1730), Valencia vs Villarreal (2000); Sunday: Sevilla vs Leganes (1100), Athletic Bilbao vs Granada (1300), Espanyol vs Osasuna (1500), Getafe vs Levante (1730), Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona (2000)