Three talking points ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 12

Three talking points ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 12 Just when Barcelona’s season seemed to be heading towards a crisis, the team have managed to pull themselves out of the water and get back going with momentum. Back-to-back defeats against PSG and Real Madrid derailed the team’s momentum, but they got back on track with a convincing 6-1 win over Alaves and then went on to beat Aston Villa convincingly in the UEFA Champions League. As the next international break beckons, Barcelona have one final challenge before they disperse for the hiatus, and it is a massive one – Atletico Madrid away from home. Diego Simeone’s side have been La Liga’s next best team after Barcelona so far this season, with just one defeat and one loss to their names. They even beat Real Madrid this season and have been going strong. Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona. Lease of life in defence Untimely injuries to Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde and Xavi Espart left Barcelona’s defensive department relatively exposed over the past week, and while they did win, the manager had to dig deep into his resources. On one occasion, Hansi Flick resorted to using Frenkie de Jong as his centre-back alongside Pau Cubarsi, while Gerard Martin returned from his niggle and started against Aston Villa. Brian Farinas, meanwhile, held the fort at right-back. Ahead of the critical game against Atletico Madrid, Flick officially announced that Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia are back in the squad, and that they can be involved on Sunday night. Eric Garcia is back. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images) It will thus be interesting to see what backline the manager opts for against Simeone’s men on the night, especially given how Barcelona’s defence has been exposed relatively in recent games. One option, needless to say, will be to stick with Cubarsi and Martin as the centre-backs and bring Eric Garcia in as a right-back to make the most of his experience against a difficult opposition. If Farinas has done enough to earn Flick’s trust against Atletico Madrid, however, he could also continue to start and open the door for Garcia to start alongside Cubarsi in central defence. A must-win encounter Barcelona’s game against Real Madrid last month was seen as a must-win in terms of it being a game that would have helped the Catalans push to a massive lead in the standings. They failed to capitalize on the opportunity, and a night that could have ended with them being nine points clear of Real Madrid ended with them being just three points ahead. Tomorrow’s clash against Atletico Madrid, however, is a must-win for far more significant reasons as it will directly have consequences on Barcelona’s position on the table. The Blaugrana are currently on 30 points after eleven games, while Simeone’s men are on 28 points after as many games. The difference of two points is close to insignificant. If Barcelona lose tomorrow, Atletico Madrid will emerge as the leaders of La Liga heading into the international break. Moreover, it will come as a massive psychological blow for the Catalans to drop to second place after such an explosive start with two defeats against the two biggest teams. Even if Barcelona manage just a draw and drop two points, it will open the door for Real Madrid to close the gap to just one point – something they simply cannot afford. In that sense, winning at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano tomorrow night is a non-negotiable for Barcelona. There simply are no two ways about it. Who will be Pedri’s partner in midfield? Who will replace Rodri against Atletico Madrid? (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Rodri left the field halfway through Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League clash against Aston Villa and is currently said to be ruled out for close to a month. He will likely make his return only in early December . Tomorrow’s clash, in that sense, will be the team’s first game in his injury hiatus, and it will be interesting to see how Flick replaces him. After all, he had emerged as a mainstay in Barcelona’s midfield this season. The obvious option, needless to say, is Frenkie de Jong, who only recently returned from injury and is fit to start if the team requires him to. Having him back just when Rodri got injured is a blessing for Flick. Yet, the manager also has the option of Marc Bernal, who has been Flick’s go-to option when replacing Rodri throughout the season so far. The youngster has also shown great promise and does merit a start given the situation. Beyond those options, Flick can also turn to Gavi and Brian Farinas to partner Pedri in midfield tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see which player gets the nod to partner the Canary Islander in the big game.