Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Prediction: Another Remontada? Nope, nada

Barcelona welcome Atletico Madrid to Camp Nou on Tuesday, March 3 (20:00GMT, Premier Sports 1) in the second leg of their Copa Del Rey semi-final. The first leg was a nightmare for the Blaugrana. They lost 4-0 with defender Eric Garcia scoring an own goal and getting sent off on a torrid night.

Read on for my Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid predictions.

Team News

Barcelona can count on Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who was missing in the first leg. The inside forward returned from injury in the weekend’s 4-1 thumping of Villarreal. 

Raphinha and Pedri also missed that humbling loss but will be fit for this long-shot comeback attempt.

Barca’s chances of the impossible are reduced considerably by the absence of goal-getter supreme, Robert Lewandowski. The Poland international will miss this game with a fractured eye socket, though sources suggest he will be fit for La Liga action against Athletic Club at the weekend.

Midfielders Gavi and Frenkie de Jong miss out while former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen is a long-term miss with a cruciate ligament injury.

Atleti will suffer without Spain international Pablo Barrios for another couple of weeks with a thigh injury. Midfielder Johnny Cardoso is sidelined with a hamstring problem.

Football Odds

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Odds

The home side are 8/15 to win on the night but a considerably-longer 6/1 to win the overall tie. Atleti are underdogs on the night at 10/3 but clear favourites to win over two legs at 1/12.

Barca are 23/10 to win to nil while their opponents are priced at 12/5 to score in both halves.

Barcelona to win and both teams to score @ 11/8

Under Hansi Flick, goals have been easy to come by for Barcelona. Bayern Munich are the only side in the top five European leagues to score more than the La Liga leaders this term. With a 4-0 deficit to overturn, you can expect the Blaugrana to go footballs-to-the-wall.

But relentless attack can often mean sacrifices in defence. Atleti boast Antoine Griezmann, who has five goals in this competition this season. Norway international Alexander Sorloth has 15 goals this term in all competitions while his strike partner Julian Alvarez boasts 14. Diego Simeone’s team distributes the attacking burden, with several threats in their frontline.

I think Barca’s need to go all-out will score them the win on the night. But I think there will be vulnerabilities that Atleti can exploit to the tune of at least one goal.

Ferran Torres to score first @ 4/1

Barcelona are the likeliest first goal scorers. It is a necessity that Flick’s boys get on the front foot early. With Lewandowski sidelined, it will fall to former Manchester City man Ferran Torres to lead the line.

Torres is enjoying his best scoring season in La Liga, with 12 goals already. The Spain forward bagged 19 across all competitions last season, with 16 so far this term. Cole Palmer gets all the ‘how did they let him go?’ hype, but there are surely a few Cityzens who wish they still had the 23-goal Spain international at the Etihad.

Flick’s front-foot offensive hinges on Torres. I don’t think the Nou Camp number-seven will let his manager down.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.