Atlético Madrid are vulnerable and that makes them dangerous against Barcelona

Atlético Madrid have struggled this season. They aren’t locking the door like they used to. They’re allowing teams to come back and score multiple goals in games where they used to go 1-0 up and stifle the opposition for the rest of the match.

But make no mistake: Atlético Madrid have every chance to knock FC Barcelona out of the Copa del Rey.

Led by their brilliant coach Diego Simeone, Atlético will fight tooth and nail before submitting. They still have brilliant players like Diego Godín and Antoine Griezmann. They’re still a danger to score one goal and steal a result, especially at home.

And they may have the additional motivation that their league campaign might not ever fully recover. This could be their one shot.

Barcelona aren’t exactly lighting it up, either. They’ll have to step it up several levels to win this tie.