Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
A little more than a week after Barcelona's dazzling 3-1 win over Los Rojiblancos in La Liga, Atletico Madrid will travel to the Camp Nou again on Wednesday hoping to take an edge in their Copa del Rey quarter-final tie.
The first leg of their tournament encounter promises to set off more fireworks between the Spanish giants, where Diego Simeone's side will be hoping for a far different outcome under cup conditions.
Atletico rode through the storm of Real Madrid in the last round to reach the last eight, but will once again come under intense fire as they look to take a favourites lead in the competition.
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Read on for all the essential viewing information for the midweek clash, along with match preview and which key battle to keep an eye on.
Date: Wednesday, January 21
Time: 9 p.m. GMT/4 p.m. ET
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), beIN Sports 13 (U.S.)
Barca Eyeing Double Devastation
Barca's home win over Atleti earlier this month saw the Blaugrana claim a three-point cushion in second place, keeping them within a single point of leaders Real Madrid, but this Copa del Rey clash will be different.
Over the course of two legs, Los Rojiblancos can perhaps afford a setback in Catalan country, but Barca need to be at their most ruthless if they're to bring the desired edge to the Vicente Calderon next Wednesday.
Knowing an away goal would give Atletico some welcome hope of advancing after both fixtures, Luis Enrique's defence has a certain responsibility to do better than their most recent encounter and keep a clean sheet.
Barca star Andres Iniesta told the club's official website (h/t Goal.com's Peter Thompson) that Wednesday's hosts must step their game up an extra notch:
"Looking back at the first half of the league season, we haven't done badly. But we still need to get a lot better. I don't think it's a bad idea to rotate the team. It means we'll be better conditioned for the run-in to the end of the season. It's about doing what the coach decides and doing it as well as possible.
"
It'll be a very tough, intense game against Atletico. They're a strong team. We'll need to do as well as possible and avoid committing errors.
Enrique must eye his priorities carefully and judge what matters most between the league, Copa del Rey and European success, but in truth a club of Barcelona's stature should be chasing all three with tempo.
Come the first leg, his team selection will tell us just how valuable both he and Simeone consider the domestic tournament to be, with Enrique eyeing his second major win over the Madrid giants in quick succession.
Key Battle
Luis Suarez vs. Jose Gimenez
The first Uruguayan head-to-head of January went in favour of Luis Suarez as Barca ran in three goals earlier this month, but Jose Gimienez will attempt to curtail his compatriot's movement much more astutely in Round 2.
The Atletico youngster has quickly risen to become one of the club's most respected defenders and even displace Joao Miranda from the starting XI. His surging form led to the 20-year-old being named the club's Player of the Month for December, per Jamie Kemp of Inside La Liga:
Suarez's progress in Spain has been slow at times, but a scoring display against Simeone's men earlier this month was evidence that the transition from the Premier League is progressing.
Those same tenacious traditions remain with the Barcelona striker, however, as 101GreatGoals pointed out the war of words which came about between these two countrymen at the Camp Nou. Warning: Some language NSFW:
After eight La Liga appearances this season, Gimenez is averaging 2.8 tackles per game, per WhoScored.com, more than any other defender at the club, but shutting down Suarez proved a task too tricky in their last encounter.
If Lionel Messi and Neymar are able to provide their team-mate with the space he desires in order to exploit the centre-back and his partner Diego Godin, we could see another dismantling of the Madrid visitors.
