{"id":4098,"date":"2026-04-14T07:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T07:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/4098\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T07:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T07:35:12","slug":"atletico-madrid-vs-barcelona-champions-league-preview-team-news-predicted-lineups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/4098\/","title":{"rendered":"Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona Champions League preview: Team news, predicted lineups"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the opening match at Camp Nou, Atletico stunned the hosts with a disciplined and clinical display, News.Az<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Goals from Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez and Alexander S\u00f8rloth secured a crucial away win, while Barcelona<\/a> were left with a mountain to climb after Pau Cubars\u00ed\u2019s red card changed the momentum of the tie. Now, Hansi Flick\u2019s team must attempt one of European football\u2019s toughest comebacks away from home.<\/p>\n

Team News<\/p>\n

Atletico Madrid head into the second leg with a largely settled squad and high confidence after resting several key players in domestic action ahead of this fixture. Diego Simeone is expected to rely on his strongest available XI, with Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez leading the attack alongside Antoine Griezmann. Alexander S\u00f8rloth, scorer in the first leg, is also expected to play a key role, either starting or coming off the bench depending on tactical setup. Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s defensive structure remains their biggest strength, anchored by Jan Oblak in goal and a compact back line designed to protect their aggregate lead.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, meanwhile, face significant selection challenges. Defender Pau Cubars\u00ed is suspended following his red card in the first leg, forcing Hansi Flick to reshuffle his back line. Frenkie de Jong is expected to return to midfield after recovering from injury, providing a major boost alongside Pedri in the centre of the pitch. In attack, Barcelona will once again rely heavily on Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, and Marcus Rashford, with Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo providing options from the bench. Raphinha remains unavailable due to injury, further limiting Barcelona\u2019s attacking depth.<\/p>\n

Predicted Lineups
\nAtletico Madrid (4-4-2 \/ 3-5-2 hybrid)<\/p>\n

Jan Oblak; Nahuel Molina, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Gim\u00e9nez, Robin Le Normand, Reinildo; Marcos Llorente, Rodrigo De Paul, Koke, Samuel Lino; Antoine Griezmann, Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez.<\/p>\n

Barcelona (4-2-3-1)<\/p>\n

Joan Garc\u00eda; Jules Kound\u00e9, Eric Garc\u00eda, I\u00f1igo Mart\u00ednez, Jo\u00e3o Cancelo; Frenkie de Jong, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez, Marcus Rashford; Robert Lewandowski.<\/p>\n

Match Outlook<\/p>\n

Atletico enter the second leg as clear favourites, not only because of their 2\u20130 lead but also due to their strong defensive record in knockout European matches. Their game plan is expected to focus on controlling space, slowing the tempo, and exploiting counter-attacks through Griezmann and \u00c1lvarez.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, on the other hand, must adopt an aggressive approach from the first whistle. Scoring early will be crucial if they are to shift momentum and apply pressure on Atletico\u2019s compact defensive system. However, any defensive lapse could prove decisive, as Atletico have already demonstrated their efficiency in finishing chances.<\/p>\n

With a semi-final place at stake, the tie remains alive\u2014but Barcelona will need near-perfect execution to overturn the deficit against a disciplined Atl\u00e9tico side in front of their home supporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the opening match at Camp Nou, Atletico stunned the hosts with a disciplined and clinical display, News.Az…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[179,92,187,415],"class_list":{"0":"post-4098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-barcelona","8":"tag-atletico-madrid","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-champions-league","11":"tag-uefa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}