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Barcelona host Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Saturday. Both clubs are separated by a mere two points in La Liga after 34 matches.
At this stage of the season, Los Rojiblancos are barely clinging on to their slender lead at the top of the La Liga table, and neither side can afford to drop points.
Diego Simeone's side suffered a shocking 1-2 defeat in their recent outing against Athletic Club but managed to secure all three points while playing against Elche.
Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman's men have lost twice in their last five games, including a surprise defeat at the hands of Granada at Camp Nou a week ago.
Both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will want to come away with a victory as they vie for the La Liga trophy alongside Real Madrid. On that note, here is an overview of the players who can be instrumental in the game.
#5 Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
With 17 clean sheets and 22 goals conceded in 34 La Liga matches, Jan Oblak is en route to winning his fifth Zamora trophy ahead of the likes of Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois and Sevilla's Bono.
In the previous meeting between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Oblak played a crucial role in denying Clement Lenglet and Antoine Griezmann from getting onto the scoresheet. His efforts eventually contributed to Los Rojiblancos' narrow 1-0 victory over the Blaugranas.
Meanwhile, Barcelona's Andre-Marc ter Stegen has looked vulnerable and shaky in recent games. The German last kept a clean sheet in La Liga back in April when the Catalan giants beat relegation battlers Real Valladolid by a scoreline of 1-0.
#4 Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
After a poor start to his Barcelona career, Antoine Griezmann is finally finding his footing in Ronald Koeman's side. He has netted 12 goals and provided seven assists in 32 La Liga matches this season.
Additionally, the French striker has had a goal contribution in each of the last four games and is in great form going into the clash against Atletico Madrid. Koeman will certainly hope to capitalise on the 30-year-old's confidence in order to guide Barcelona to the top of the table.
The only worry is that Griezmann is yet to find the net against Atletico Madrid in La Liga despite scoring a goal over his former club in last season's Supercopa semi-final.
#3 Luiz Suarez (Atletico Madrid)
After spending six years at Camp Nou, Luis Suarez's time at Barcelona abruptly ended when Ronald Koeman took charge as the new manager.
The 34-year-old striker made 283 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona and scored 195 goals.
Since joining Atletico Madrid, the Uruguayan has enjoyed decent form, netting 19 times in 28 games. However, he has not scored a goal in La Liga since March 21st against Alaves.
Suarez missed three of Atletico Madrid's last six games due to a muscle injury.
Plenty of attention will be on the centre-forward, who returns to Camp Nou for the first time since his departure last year.
#2 Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid)
Yannick Carrasco has played a vital role in keeping Atletico Madrid's hopes of winning the La Liga trophy alive in recent weeks.
The 27-year-old midfielder has either scored or provided an assist in each of his last five domestic league matches. Furthermore, he put up a man-of-the-match performance when Barcelona last played against Atletico Madrid.
Simeone will be keen to leverage Carrasco's pace and sharpness in front of goal to make an impact against Barcelona.
The Belgium international makes an average of 1.5 key passes and 1.3 shots on goal per La Liga fixture.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
As La Liga's top scorer with 26 goals so far this season, Lionel Messi will be Barcelona's main man to watch in the upcoming clash. Although he did not score against Atletico Madrid last November, the Argentine ace has an extremely impressive record against Los Rojiblancos.
In 42 appearances against Simeone's side, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 32 goals, with Sevilla being the only club to have conceded more goals from him.
Considering his superb partnership with Griezmann at the moment, Messi will be aiming to inspire Barcelona to a victory against Atletico Madrid so that they can return to the top of the La Liga table.
Ahead of the match, former Atletico Madrid player Saul Niguez praised the Barcelona playmaker and claimed:
“There is no doubt that Lionel Messi is the best player in history, not just currently."
“I admire Cristiano for how he works, how he is, but I think Messi, at a footballing level, has no comparison.”
