MADRID (AP) — Barcelona and Atletico Madrid begin a preview of their Champions League quarterfinal series in La Liga this weekend.
This will be the first of three games in ten days between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. The Spanish rivals will meet five times in less than two months. They also met in the Copa del Rey semi-finals in February and March, when Atletico advanced to the final with a 4-3 aggregate score.
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Champions League matches will take place in Barcelona on Wednesday and in Madrid on April 14. Barcelona are hoping to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the second consecutive season, while Atletico are looking to return to the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.
Barcelona will try to maintain at least a four-point lead over Real Madrid in Saturday’s league clash, while Atletico Madrid, who are 16 points behind Barcelona, will try to overtake Villarreal and return to third place. Atletico is one point behind Villarreal.
Real Madrid visited relegation-threatened Mallorca earlier on Saturday. In the last game before the international break, Real Madrid defeated Atletico Madrid 3-2 at home.
Other matchups
Real Betis face Espanyol on Saturday, who are yet to win in 12 games this year.
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Sevilla sacked head coach Matias Almeida ahead of the international break and visit bottom side Oviedo on Sunday. Sevilla has won just one of its last eight games.
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Barcelona will face Atletico without striker Rafinha, who will be out for around five weeks after injuring his right hamstring in Brazil’s friendly against France.
Raphinha scored twice in Barcelona’s 7-2 victory over Newcastle in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. He will miss the two games against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Players to watch
Real Madrid forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior face off during half-time during Brazil’s friendly against France. La Liga goalscorer Kylian Mbappe scored in France’s 2-1 victory over Brazil, helping the French team return to the top spot in the FIFA rankings.
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Vinicius failed to score and was criticized by many for his poor performances with Brazil. He scored twice in Madrid’s derby against Atletico before halftime.
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Barcelona star Ramin Yamal is having a tough game for Spain after Spanish fans repeatedly chanted anti-Muslim slogans during Barcelona’s friendly against Egypt on Tuesday.
Yamal, who is Muslim, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the fan chants at the RCDE Stadium were disrespectful and intolerable. He said the slogans were not directed at him personally and that it didn’t matter.
“I know not all fans are like this, but to those who chant these words: using religion to taunt you on the pitch makes you look ignorant and racist,” he wrote on Instagram. “Football is for enjoying and cheering, not disrespecting people’s identities or beliefs.”
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