The Spanish football giants, one point apart in the LaLiga, face off in the first leg of the Spanish Cup semifinals.
Who: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
What: Spanish Copa del Rey semifinal – first leg
Where: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain
When: Tuesday at 9:30pm (20:30 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera’s live text and photo commentary stream of the match.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick believes his team need to learn from their LaLiga defeat by Atletico Madrid this season and be more clinical in front of goal when they meet again in their Copa del Rey semifinal first leg.
Atletico claimed their first away win at Barca in 18 years with a 2-1 victory in December despite the hosts dominating the opening exchanges and scoring the first goal.
“This is a new game. We have to prove it,” Flick told reporters on Monday, a day ahead of the home clash.
“Atleti are a great team, they have invested a lot of money. They have the best defenders and the best attackers. It’s going to be a tough game …
“We have to take advantage of the opportunity to score, the important thing is to score goals. And we have to keep in mind that it’s two games and not just one.”
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Lamine Yamal injury update
Flick is hoping to have Lamine Yamal available after the 17-year-old winger missed training on Monday due to a knock he picked up in the 2-0 win at Las Palmas on Saturday.
Yamal, who bagged an assist, posted a picture of his bloody left foot on Instagram after the match.
“We will have to wait to see if he can play, I see the situation as positive from what the doctor has told us. And we want him to be with us,” Flick revealed.
The German added that midfielder Dani Olmo could play 90 minutes after recovering from a calf injury suffered in January.
Olmo, who has seven goals and three assists in 22 appearances since joining Barca in the close season from RB Leipzig, scored off the bench in the win over Las Palmas.
Atletico ready to ‘suffer’
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has urged his players to focus on one game at a time in a demanding schedule as they face Real Madrid in the Champions League the following week.
A five-week stretch includes a two-legged clash against Real in the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition and another meeting with Barca in LaLiga, with Atletico trailing the two giants by a point at the top of the table in a heated title run.
“The key, the only way, is to look at each day match-by-match,” Simeone said in his pre-match press conference.
“We are excited, we want to compete, looking forward to facing each game in the best way possible and to achieve that we are focused solely on tomorrow’s game.
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“It’s a very important match, but it doesn’t end tomorrow, it’s divided into two stages, one on their home court and one on ours. And we’ll take the game where we think we can hurt them.”
The return leg is on April 2 at the Metropolitano in Madrid.
Simeone said his side are ready to suffer in what he expects will be a battle against LaLiga’s leaders.
“When you face big teams, you know you have to be prepared to resist, to endure suffering,” Simeone said.
“There will be good moments for each side and you need to take advantage of those.
“We’re up against an opponent that I really like the way they play. They have great attacking strength and we’ll be looking to hurt them where we think we can.”
