BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Ernesto Valverde has a message for his players before Barcelona hosts Atletico Madrid on Saturday in a match that will determine the Spanish league’s name: Mind the gap in protection.
Barcelona’s returned line was exposed to numerous activities through Villarreal on Tuesday when Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored past due to rescue a 4-four draw and restrict the damage to Barcelona’s lead over Atletico atop the standings. Valverde is now hoping to use that bad group’s overall performance. It becomes bailed out by using its strikers’ brilliance to ensure Barcelona keeps Atletico looking at Camp Nou Stadium.
“The other day, we did not play well. We had been disorganized in the attack, which made us go through in defense,” Valverde stated. “Any adversary who watched the match noticed a way to assault us by looking to play long balls into space at the back of our strains.”
Barcelona might be boosted by returning its great defender, Gerard Pique. He rested against Villarreal so he would not risk a fifth yellow card and, accordingly, a suspension against Atletico. Samuel Umtiti, who’s a ways from his peak health after missing most of the season with knee damage, struggled to keep up with the tempo of Villarreal’s speedy forwards.
Against Atletico, Barcelona will face Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata in the attack. Both players thrive in an open area and do not need a good deal to generate scoring chances. “We are going up towards brief gamers, and (Pique) will help us a lot,” Valverde stated. Valverde expects Atletico to pick out its moments to strain up the sphere and provoke a costly passing error using Barcelona near its goal. Then, trade that tactic with conserving again, ready to marvel on a counterattack.
“They pressure very well — every so often, they do it at the start of the fit, different times they wait,” Valverde said. “Sometimes, they let you think you are dominating them with the ball intending to strike at the ruin. And they have got amazing passers to begin a counterattack in Koke or Saul (Niguez). We will see both options.” However, Barcelona usually has Messi on the route if the healthy turn opposes them.
The membership’s all-time main scorer has been fantastic currently. He leads the league with 32 desires through 30 rounds and has nine dreams in his remaining five games, including scoring from loose kicks in his ultimate three outings. “The word is not fear. It’s recognized,” Atletico teacher Diego Simeone stated of Messi. “He is pure nice. There are moments when you want to elevate your precision, and that’s what Messi is doing.”
Atletico’s best achievement underneath Simeone occurred in 2014 when it beat the odds by winning the Liga title after earning a 1-1 draw at Barcelona in a winner-take-all showdown in the final sport. Otherwise, Winona has been a source of frustration. Atletico hasn’t rained in 18 consecutive visits to the Catalan capital. Barcelona leads Atletico using 8 points with eight suits last, so it is an ought-to-win for Atletico fought-to-win to preserve its title challenge. “The nerdiest sensible alternative we’ve is to win tomorrow,” Simeone stated.
