Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will look to settle their rivalry when they meet on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
The two sides have been inseparable this season as they have drawn in each of their first four meetings. They met in the Spanish Super Cup last fall and tied 1-1 in Madrid thanks to goals from David Villa and Neymar; in the return leg the two sides battled to a 0-0 draw.
In January they met again at the Vicente Calderon and tied 0-0. Last week they met at the Camp Nou and battled to a 1-1.
Atletico Madrid holds the advantage thanks to the away goal scored by Diego in that match; the team can afford to play to a 0-0 draw and would then book a spot in the next round.
For Barcelona a victory is essential; a 1-1 draw would force extra time while a 0-0 draw would eliminate them altogether.
"We would like to have got a more favorable result," Barcelona Xavi said according to ESPN. "A 1-1 draw is not so good, but we will go there full of motivation and spirit to go and win the game. We are a team made to attack and score goals, and are up against a team, which is just the opposite. We must try and get ahead on the scoreboard. We have not done that in any of the four games. We would see then how they react. That could be key to the game."
Barcelona has looked better of late but has struggled to look like the dominant force of years past. In the group round the team took on Ajax Amsterdam, AC Milan and Celtic. The team made easy work of Celtic but tied in one match against Milan and lost another against Ajax. Barcelona ultimately came out on top of the group. In the round of 16 the team took Manchester City. After winning 2-0 at the Ethiad Stadium, the team on 2-1 at home and clinched a 4-1 aggregate score over the two legs.
Meanwhile Atletico Madrid won first place in a group that included Austria Vienna, Porto and Zenit St. Petersburg. The team finished with a record of five wins and one draw. In the round of 16, Atletico made quick work of AC Milan over the two legs.
Prediction: Barcelona will likely control the ball and play its aggressive style. However, this will expose them on the backend where Atletico will be lethal. It is likely that this game has some goal scoring but ultimately los Colchoneros will come away with a 2-1 victory at home and eliminate Barcelona form the Champions League.
The match kicks off at 3:45 p.m. EST and can be streamed online on Fox Soccer 2 Go. It can also be viewed on Fox Sports Deportes.
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