Atletico Madrid v Barcelona preview – Luis Enrique faces critical test

Atletico Madrid host Barcelona at the Vicente Calderón stadium this weekend as they look to close the gap with the struggling reigning La Liga champions.

Barcelona have had a difficult fortnight, after a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League they just about scraped past relegation battlers Leganes with a last-gasp victory.

The Catalan side sit in second place with 51 points after 23 games and are a point behind leaders Real Madrid. Barcelona did however receive a massive boost during the week following Valencia’s win over Madrid.

Atletico Madrid meanwhile find themselves in forth place but will be in high spirits following their victory over Bayer Leverkusen earlier this week.

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Diego Simeone’s side have been inconsistent this season a are a lot more vulnerable defensively than in recent seasons.

Under pressure manager Luis Enrique will be boosted by the return of Arda Turan but is still unable to call upon Javier Mascherano who is sidelined with an injury.

Enrique may call on Turan as he arguably knows Simeone’s tactics better than any other Barca player having played under the stewardship of the Argentinian coach during his time at Atleti.

Turan could end up playing out wide in an attacking midfield role if Enrique decides to switch from a 4-3-3 setup to a 4-2-3-1 as has been suggested this week.

With both sides in need of all three points we should see an action packed game with plenty of goal-mouth action.