If there is one player who has sparkled against Atlético de Madrid in the history of the Spanish league then that is Leo Messi. The 'Rojiblancos' are one of Messi's favoured victims, although it has to be said that he has not actually scored at the Calderón in La Liga since 26th February 2012. But still. It doesn't alter the fact that he has netted 18 goals against the team from the banks of the Manzanares in 17 games played against them. Only against Sevilla has he notched more - 19.
So dealing with Messi is going to be quite a headache for Diego Simeone, although last season he pushed the right button, electing to construct a kind of cage of players around Messi and managing to hold him in check. But this season is different. Messi is the old Messi once again and has two main aims.
The first of these, clinching the league title on Sunday at the Calderón, is something which is completely in the hands of the Barcelona side. Winning, or equalling Real Madrid's result at Espanyol's Cornellà stadium will be enough.
His second aim is more personal, and this is to win the Pichichi and thus the European Golden Shoe, At the moment it is Cristiano Ronaldo who is in the lead in this, with two goals more than Messi, who has two games left to catch up with Ronaldo, who does not appear to be on his best form at the moment.
It seems that this term Messi might have found the door of Simeone's cage, having scored in both games against Atlético at the Camp Nou. He will arrive at the Calderón at the peak of his powers, with a role totally different from what he had in other seasons, with the freedom to roam all over the pitch
