Barca, Atletico battle for top four

La Liga’s fallen giants seek statement victory to mark return to elite list

MADRID:

Rejuvenation will be the reward for the winner of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on Sunday as La Liga's two fallen giants seek a statement victory to hasten their return to the elite.

Both clubs have endured the kind of turbulence this season that neither have faced for more than a decade but each of them head to Camp Nou with fresh hope and a sense of optimism that a corner is being turned.

Sunday will mark exactly two months since Xavi Hernandez was appointed Barcelona coach, with the team lying ninth in La Liga, five points adrift of the top four.

The trajectory since has not always been upward, with failure to qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages preceding defeat by Athletic Bilbao in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.

Under Xavi, Barca have lost at home to Real Betis and drawn away at Osasuna, Sevilla and Granada. Even in their last game against Alaves, which brought a 1-0 win, the lack of punch and creativity was arguably as clear as it ever was under Ronald Koeman.

But there is evidence now of a system and a plan, even if these players are not always capable of executing it.

Results have improved - Barca have lost only once in the league in Xavi's 10 games.

And youngsters have taken another step forward, with Nico Gonzalez, Gavi and Ronald Araujo forming the beginnings of a spine around which this team might be able to build.

Most importantly, Barca have closed the gap, with just a point now separating them from Atletico Madrid in fourth, meaning a win this weekend would lift them into the Champions League qualification spots for the first time since September.

For all the excitement about Xavi coming home and a new generation coming through, Barcelona cannot afford to wait.

Erasing the club's enormous debts, keeping their sharpest talents and even being a contender to sign the likes of Erling Haaland in the summer will all rely on Xavi's side finishing in the top four.

It is why any romantic ideas about style and youth have been tempered by a more pragmatic edge, the kind that persuaded Xavi and Joan Laporta to re-sign a 38-year-old Dani Alves, add the physicality of Adama Traore and bring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in from the cold.