Barcelona have won on their last four league visits to the Metropolitano, and Atlético go top of La Liga if they win there on Sunday
Real Madrid drew level with Barcelona on 30 points at Mestalla, and Atlético sit two behind them in third. Kick-off in Madrid is 1:30am IST on Monday.
Nov 8, 2026
Atlético Madrid put Barcelona out of two competitions last season. The league has been a different story. Barcelona have won on each of their last four La Liga visits to the Metropolitano, the most recent a 2-1 win there in April, and they go back on Sunday with first place at stake.
Real Madrid won 3-0 at Valencia on Saturday to move level with Barcelona on 30 points, but they have played a game more and sit second on goal difference. Atlético are third on 28 after 11 games. A home win would take Diego Simeone’s side top on 31. A Barcelona win would put Hansi Flick’s team three points clear going into the international break.
Kick-off is at 9pm in Madrid, which is 1:30am IST on Monday.
Seven straight league wins for Atlético
Atlético have won nine, drawn one and lost one of their 11 league games, and the last seven have all been wins. The latest was a 2-0 at Levante on 31 October, with Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone scoring. Their week since has been less kind. Bayern Munich won 2-0 at the Metropolitano in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Julián Álvarez has had a strange season. He spent the summer trying to get a move to Barcelona, and in October the Spanish federation fined Barcelona over their approach. He stayed, and his two goals this season both came in October, against Stuttgart in the Champions League and against Deportivo La Coruña in the league. Cristian Romero misses out with a muscular injury that will also keep him out of Argentina’s games against Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Raphinha at centre-forward
Barcelona never did get a striker for that role. Flick moved Raphinha into it instead, and the Brazilian is La Liga’s top scorer with 15 league goals. He has also signed a new contract that runs to 2030, and his form has made the Álvarez saga look like one Barcelona can live without.
Rodri out, Eric García back
Flick is still short at the back and has now lost a midfielder too. Rodri went off at half-time of the 3-0 Champions League win over Aston Villa on Tuesday with a hamstring injury and could be out for up to a month. Marc Bernal came on for him that night and is the likely replacement. Jules Koundé is not expected back until after the international break, and Dani Olmo and Xavi Espart are also missing.
There is some relief in defence. Eric García has recovered from a thigh injury, and Andreas Christensen is back in the squad after his own thigh problem. “I think (García) can start, we will see if he starts,” Flick said on Saturday. Frenkie de Jong has been filling in at centre-back while the injuries piled up.
Two cup ties went Atlético’s way
The sides met five times in 2026, and Barcelona won three of them. The two that mattered most went to Atlético. In the Copa del Rey semi-final they won the first leg 4-0 at the Metropolitano in February, then lost 3-0 at Camp Nou in March and still went through 4-3 on aggregate. In the Champions League quarter-finals they won 2-0 at Camp Nou on 8 April, lost the second leg 2-1 at home six days later and went through 3-2.
So Barcelona won both of their trips to the Metropolitano in April and still came home with nothing from the second. Atlético need the league to go the way the cup nights did, and a win would send them into the break as leaders.