Barca looking to rediscover form

Title hopefuls Barcelona need to capitalise on a rare lapse by Real Madrid if they are to take full advantage of Valencia’s midweek success against the leaders of La Liga.

The Catalans must prevail at in-form Atletico Madrid on Sunday to step up pressure on Real, whose 2-1 defeat at Valencia on Wednesday was only their second of the season. Real, just one point clear of Barca and three ahead of Sevilla, play later on Sunday at Villarreal.

Barca, still reeling from their 4-0 defeat at Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League on February 14, were booed last Sunday when they needed a late Lionel Messi penalty to beat strugglers Leganes 2-1 in their latest La Liga game. “We’re not going through our best moment of form,” Barcelona defender Gerard Pique told reporters this week. “We’re focused on finding solutions. “The most important thing is to get back to playing the way we like to play.”

Real’s defeat at a struggling Valencia, however, has given Barca a chance to move to top of the standings, at least for a few hours. Real, hoping to capture the La Liga crown for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, are starting to look vulnerable.“They conceded two goals in opening nine minutes — a deficit that Zinedine Zidane’s men could not overcome.

ATLETICO BACK IN FORM

Atletico have had their struggles and are in fourth place, seven points behind Real. But they appear to be hitting their stride. The latest evidence was a 4-2 triumph at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Atletico handed Barcelona a scare earlier this month in the King’s Cup semifinals when they drew 1-1 in the second leg at the Camp Nou, although Barcelona reached the final 3-2 on aggregate.

Now Luis Enrique’s men must rediscover their defensive solidity against an Atletico attack boasting a red-hot Kevin Game iro, who followed his hattrick in Sunday’ s 4-1 win at Sp or tingGij on by scoring again and setting up another at Leverkusen.