Soccer

La Liga, Week 19: Atlético Madrid and Barcelona rumble at the Calderón

The two top teams in Spain finally meet for the first time in league play this season.

Jan 9, 2014, 10:50 PM UTC

David Ramos

All eyes will be on the Vicente Calderón Stadium for Saturday's top of the table clash between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. While it's a big game...fine, it's a HUGE game, there is other business to attend to during week 19 in Spain.

The race for fourth place tightened up considerably last weekend thanks to Real Sociedad's victory over Athletic Bilbao. La Real moved within a point of Athletic in fourth, while Villarreal closed within two. Things are likely to shake up again this week as the Yellow Submarine travels to face La Real in big edition of Monday Night Fútbol. It may not get the press that Saturday's match will get, but it should be just an important in terms of table implications.

Real Madrid could close within two points of second place with a win against Espanyol, assuming of course there's a winner in the Atléti vs. Barca match. Even a draw would help Madrid get a bit closer to the top of the table, assuming they can take care of business against a tough, but inconsistent, Espanyol side.

As for the twice mentioned clash at the Calderón, it might be the biggest game of the Spanish season so far. Yes, even bigger than El Clásico. A win by other side would give them a three point lead at the top and the early lead in the tiebreaker should Barca and Atléti end up tied at the end of the season (head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker in La Liga).