He is the only candidate who does not depend on anyone. The visit last year showed that it can hurt Barça. Luis Suárez arrives very motivated to what was his home.
The certainty of being a more vulnerable team that the one who swept at the beginning of the season is not lost even in games in which the Athletic takes all three points. The duel against Elche, in that sense, is the best example that Simeone’s men (like the rest of their rivals, by the way) have reached the end of the season. as tight of legs as mentally pressured by an eternal race. A combination that, despite following leaders, awakens some pessimism in part of the environment regarding finishing the championship by lifting the coveted title.
But not everything is negative and this Atlético has reason to believe that it can fasten what it would be the second League with Simeone. And for this it will be vital to add the three points just on the stage where he managed, seven years ago, to bring down the Madrid-Barça duopoly, the same rivals (with Sevilla off the hook due to the last defeat against Athletic) whom they will face in the final four days. Here we will review some of the factors that can tip the balance for Cholo’s men … starting with the vital duel at Camp Nou.
Depends on himself
After several days of cabal, pools and accounts, the reality is that Atleti is the only one that reaches the last four days without the obligation to look at the results of the rivals. A full of triumphs would make the Metropolitan team champion without pulling a calculator. Something they can’t say nor Madrid, which needs at least a rojiblanco draw in case of full, nor Barça, that not even winning Cholo’s men can secure the title without looking at what Zidane’s team does.
Better last year
Atleti’s last visit to Barcelona It was the last year after the confinement. Despite not taking the three points the rojiblancos, led by an imperial Carrasco, they were superior during a good part of the game, eliminating some league ghosts against the Catalans, who saved a point before bend the knee in the current season at the Metropolitan. The goal was the signature of the Belgian in a match in which Atleti passed over Koeman’s.
The Granada marked the way in the Camp Nou
Winning at the Camp Nou was never an easy task for Atleti or anyone else. Barça, even in bad campaigns, builds a fort in its stadium that this season does not seem so much with the defeats against Madrid … and especially Granada. The Andalusians, despite starting losing, raised the result by taking the colors out of a team that, due to the spaces it leaves, becomes vulnerable.Something that should take advantage of an Atlético that will surely look for its options against it.
Suárez’s motivation
Luis Suarez does not arrive at his best moment of the season but his motivation makes him a wounded animal … and hypermotivated. The way they opened the exit door after seven years leaving everything in Barcelona makes 9 a willing footballer to show his team that they were wrong by letting a direct rival go. The best revenge, scoring and winning in a duel that would KO the team that ignored him and did not value all the goals he still had in his boots.
He already won a league there
Although there are 18 years in which Atlético did not win at the Camp Nou, it should not be forgotten that the Barca coliseum was the scene where the rojiblancos lived the most important moment in decades. There they won their last league, there they achieved the feat of ending the dominance of Barça and Madrid themselves, there they showed in a definitive way that, with Simeone in command, they were willing to end the duopoly of the two greats. Winning again on Saturday would be a new step for an Atlético that, written down, he has reason to believe in a victory that would bring the league title closer to the brand new Metropolitan Museum.
