By Adriana Garcia
MADRID (Reuters) – Atletico Madrid will try to secure their first win at the Nou Camp since 2006 when they face Barcelona on Wednesday in a heavyweight clash between La Liga title contenders. Real Madrid, who are chasing history in their home game against Villarreal the same day, head the standings by three points from Barca after four rounds of matches.
Atletico have enjoyed success against Barcelona at home and especially in the Champions League, knocking them out in the 2013-14 quarter-finals and again last season.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico beat Celta Vigo 4-0 before Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of Sporting Gijon in which Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres and Kevin Gameiro combined for all the goals. “This is the path to follow,” Atletico defender Diego Godin told his club’s website. “Now we face a great rival. They are an extremely difficult team to play against especially when they play at home. “We know the quality that Barca has and they’ve proved it for many years.”
Atletico have lost five and drawn three of their last eight games at the Nou Camp in all competitions.
They have conceded a league low one goal but face a Barca attack that has hit the back of the net 13 times, the best in the competition.
The Catalans recovered from a shock 2-1 home league loss to Alaves with a 7-0 rout of Celtic in the Champions League and a 5-1 victory at promoted Leganes on Saturday.
Real have won 16 successive league matches, equaling the record of consecutive La Liga victories set by Barcelona in the 2010-11 season.
Forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale missed the 2-0 win at Espanyol but both are expected to play on Wednesday.
“We just have to continue picking up points and doing our job,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters.
Sevilla host city rivals Real Betis on Tuesday without injured defender Adil Rami and midfielder Daniel Carrico.
Valencia face promoted Alaves at the Mestalla stadium on Thursday following a run of four straight defeats.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
By Adriana Garcia
