• Written by Michael Knight
• Categories Football, Spain La Liga

Atletico Madrid host FC Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano for the first blockbuster La Liga fixture in the new ground.

ATLETICO MADRID LATEST NEWS
Diego Simeone’s men go into Saturday night’s fixture trailing their visitors by six points, with a loss on Saturday already potentially putting a nail in the coffin for any title hopes they held. Los Rojiblancos are yet to taste defeat in La Liga, having played seven matches so far. Where they have fallen short however is in a number of draws they have accrued – a total of three makes tough reading for fans.

Antoine Griezmann is yet to really get going this season, following his near-transfer to Manchester United over the summer. The Frenchman has only bagged two goals so far this season.Yannick Carrasco and Angel Correa are currently Atletico’s joint top-scorers for the season, with a paltry three goals apiece. That, if anything, illustrates the blunt nature of the side-effecting their results as they go into Saturday’s clash. Such worries about their attack will be allayed somewhat when new signing Diego Costa can play, following the cessation of the club’s transfer ban, but in the meantime, they will need to dig deep as Simeone sides tend to do, in order to keep the pace in the league.

BARCELONA LATEST NEWS
Facing Atletico on Saturday is an intriguing FC Barcelona side, who despite a truly poor summer in the transfer market, now sit five points clear at the top of La Liga, with Real Madrid already seven points adrift.

La Blaugrana has defied the critics and beaten all that has gone before them so far, scoring 23 goals and conceding just two in their seven league matches so far. Once again is has been Lionel Messi coming to the fore, having bagged 11 goals in the league already. The loss of Neymar clearly isn’t a good thing for the Catalonian giants, who have also had to deal with a truly poor run of form from Luis Suarez, having only scored twice this season.

The controversial acquisition of Paulinho has gone down far better than expected meanwhile, with the Brazilian scoring twice and assisting once so far from a box-to-box midfield role.

INJURY UPDATES
In terms of injury news the home side will have to wait on the status of Héctor Hernández (stomach), and Simi Vrsaljko (thigh), with otherwise a fully fit squad to choose from.

For the visitors, however, Andres Iniesta will miss out with a hamstring strain, while Rafinha will be sidelined until mid-November. Finally, Ousamane Dembele is of course out until mid-January with a long-term injury.

Saturday’s match will be the toughest test for both sides in La Liga this season, and one Barca despite being expected to win, will need to work extremely hard to do so. Following a tough international break for so many players expected to feature, this clash may end in a less-than-exciting draw.