By Alex Roberts
Hansi Flick’s side will be hoping their legs aren’t too tired just yet as their hectic few weeks continue, while Atlético, with just one win in their last five games across all competitions, need to put their recent hiccup behind them.
Barca left to sweat over Raphinha
Speaking of tired legs, Raphinha asked not to feature in Barca’s 4-1 La Liga win over Girona just a few days ago, saying he wasn’t feeling 100% fit having flown in from Brazil around 72 hours earlier.
You can’t blame him really, that’s a hell of a trip, especially when you just got battered 4-1 by Argentina. It didn’t matter, whoever Flick plays up front they can’t seem to stop scoring, going three points clear of Real Madrid thanks to the win over Girona.
Flick refused to say whether the red-hot winger would feature against Atlético, though he will doubtless want him to. With 27 goals and 18 assists in his 42 games across all competitions, he’s gone from unwanted to a genuine Ballon d’Or candidate.
Antoine Griezmann is a certified LaLiga legend
The Frenchman broke one of Lionel Messi’s many LaLiga records in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Espanyol, becoming the Spanish top flight’s most capped foreign player with an almost ridiculous 521 appearances.
Of course, not all of those came for Atlético, he featured for Real Sociedad and Barcelona too, but his best days have come in those famous red and white stripes, in fact, he scored in the first-leg.
He’s out of contract at the end of the season, and it remains to be seen whether his story in Spain will continue, especially with several MLS side reportedly circling. The Copa del Rey may be his last chance to win another trophy with Atlético, he just needs to get past Barcelona first.
Robert Lewandowski simply doesn’t age
There aren’t many 36-year-olds who could do what Lewandowski is doing at the moment. A brace in the 4-1 win over Girona marked his 35th and 36th goals in 42 appearances and sent him three clear of Kylian Mbappé, who is a whole decade his junior, in the race for the golden boot.
At a time when Barcelona have had transfer flop after transfer flop, bringing the legendary Polish forward in from Bayern Munich may just be their best piece of business of the past five years.
He’s got another year on his contract at Camp Nou, and he doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. Top quality forwards are hard to come by nowadays; Barca are lucky to have a man like Lewandowski on their books.
Julián Alvarez loves the Copa del Rey
The Argentinian has been kinda hit and miss in the league for Atlético this season, but in cup competitions he’s flourished, two-touch penalty (depending on who you ask) in the defeat to rivals Real Madrid aside.
Alvarez is the top scorer in this season’s Copa del Rey, bagging five goals in his six appearances. He also has the most goal contributions as a whole, providing two assists on top of his goals.
He’s not quite the main man at the Metropolitano, but he’s not far off. Dragging Atlético to their first piece of silverware since 2020-21 will go a long way to silencing some of the doubters.
Prediction
Don’t expect to see another 4-4 in this one. Atlético have been poor, but Barca’s priorities lie elsewhere. We’re going to go with a 2-1 win for Diego Simeone’s side.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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