Barcelona and Atletico Madrid clash in La Liga before their Champions League quarterfinal
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid clash in La Liga before their Champions League quarterfinal
TALES AZZONI Thu, April 2, 2026 at 10:16 AM UTC
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1 / 0Spain La Liga SoccerBarcelona's Marcus Rashford in action in front of Rayo's Isi Palazon during a La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort) ()
MADRID (AP) — Barcelona and Atletico Madrid square off in La Liga this weekend in a preview of their series in the Champions League quarterfinals.
It will be the first of three games between Barcelona and Atletico in 10 days. The Spanish rivals will face each other five times in less than two months. They also met in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey in February and March when Atletico advanced to the final 4-3 on aggregate.
The Champions League games will be on Wednesday in Barcelona and on April 14 in Madrid. Barcelona is looking to make it to the Champions League semifinals for the second season in a row and Atletico is seeking to get back to the last four for the first time since 2017.
Saturday's league matchup will see Barcelona trying to remain at least four points ahead of Real Madrid at the top, while Atletico — which trails Barcelona by 16 points — will seek to get back into third place past Villarreal. Atletico sits one point behind Villarreal.
Real Madrid visits relegation-threatened Mallorca earlier on Saturday. Real beat Atletico 3-2 at home in the teams' last game before the international break.
Other matchups
Real Betis on Saturday hosts Espanyol, which has yet to win in 12 games this year.
Sevilla fired coach Matías Almeyda before the international break and visits last-placed Oviedo on Sunday. Sevilla has won only one of its last eight matches.
Out of action
Barcelona will face Atletico without forward Raphinha, who will be out for about five weeks after injuring his right hamstring while playing for Brazil in a friendly against France.
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Raphinha scored twice in Barcelona’s 7-2 rout of Newcastle in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 and is set to miss both matches against Atletico in the last eight.
Players to watch
Real Madrid forwards Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior faced each other in the Brazil-France friendly during the break. Mbappé, La Liga's scoring leader, netted once in France's 2-1 win over Brazil, a result that helped send the French squad back to first place in the FIFA rankings.
Vinícius couldn't find the net and was criticized by many for his lackluster performance for Brazil. He scored twice for Madrid against Atletico in the derby before the break.
Off the field
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal is coming off a tough match for Spain after Spanish fans repeatedly chanted anti-Muslim chants during the friendly against Egypt on Tuesday in Barcelona.
Yamal, who is Muslim, came out with a statement on Wednesday saying the fan chants at RCDE Stadium were disrespectful and intolerable. He said it didn’t matter that the chants were not directed at him personally.
“I understand that not all fans are like that, but to those who chant these things: Using a religion as a taunt on the field makes you look ignorant and racist,” he wrote on Instagram. “Football is for enjoying and cheering, not for disrespecting people for who they are or what they believe.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Source: “AOL Sports”
