Atlético Madrid v Barcelona: La Liga – live!

25 min: Some brutal simplicity from Atletico there. On the right flank, Joao Felix received the ball and played it inside to Luis Suarez, who played Lemar in behind with a deft one-touch pass. In acres of room, the Frenchman picked his spot and rifled an unstoppable shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Atletico lead! Thomas Lemar gets in behind the Barcelona defence and fires a screamer past ter Stegen to finish a scintillating move of one-touch passing between himself, Luis Suarez and Joao Felix.

22 min: Another Barcelona corner. On this occasion Coutinho’s outswinger is hoofed clear and the ball ends up back in the hands of ter Stegen.

21 min: Yannick Carasco curls the free-kick into the Barcelona penalty area fromn the right wing. His delivery, which I presume was supposed to be a cross, gives Marc-Andre ter Stegen plenty to think about as it threatens to drop under the bar. It lands on the roof of the net.

20 min: Barcelona’s Pablo Gaviro gets booked for a foul on Thomas Lemar.

18 min: No chances of note for either team with almost 20 minutes gone. Atletico are having the better of proccedings but there’s not a great deal in it. The game has been fairly cagey so far.

14 min: Philippe Coutinho grabs a hold of Joao Felix and won’t let go as he tries to put a stop to an Atletico counter-attack. He gives away a free-kick but avoids a yellow card.

13 min: A hopeful ball forward towards Luis Suarez from Mario Hermoso bounces straight through to Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

11 min: Joao Felix is sent galloping down the left flank by a great pass from Koke. He loses possession and then gives away a free-kick for a fdoul on Barcelona’s Oscar Mingueza while trying to win the ball back.

9 min: Thomas Lemar drifts inside from the right flank and tries a low drive from distance. Wide of the upright but not by much.

7 min: Memphis goes down on the edge of the Atletico penalty area holding his face after a coming together with Jose Gimenez. It’s a corner for Barcelona, from which nothing comes.

6 min: Joao Felix is fouled again, this time by Ronald Araujo.

5 min: Koke wins a loose ball in midfield and plays it forward to Joao Felix. Atletico win a free-kick about 40 yards from the Barcelona goal. Rodrigo De Paul overhits his delivery to the far post and the ball drifts wide.

3 min: Frenkie De Jong picks out Philippe Coutinho on the right touchline as Barcelona gallop forward. He plays it back to the Dutchman, who picks out Sergino Dest. Atletico clear.

1 min: Barcelona get the ball rolling, their players wearing a pale blue/violet strip. The players of Atletico wear their usual red and white striped shirts, blue shorts and blue socks. On the touchline, Diego Simeone is doing his usual |Johnny Cash impression, wearing all black. Ronald Koeman is in the stands, serving the second instalment of a two-match touchline ban. I didn’t see what he’s wearing.

Not long now: The stands are packed as the teams march out on to the pitch. Koke leads out Atletico, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen wears the armband for Barcelona. Wer’re just a few handshakes, a coin-toss and a shrill blast of referee Soto Grado’s whistle away from kick-off.

A vote of confidence from Joan La Porta: “He will continue, Koeman will stay on as manager and he deserves some leeway,” said the Barcelona president earlier today. “Regardless of the result, Koeman will continue as the Barcelona manager.” Hmmm.

No Antoine Griezmann in the Atletico Madrid line-up: Joao Felix gets his first start starts up front alongside Luis Suarez, in a stadium that will be at 100% capacity for the first time in 18 months. On loan at Atletico from Barcelona, Griezmann starts on the bench and Thomas Lemar comes in for Kieran Trippier.

That Barcelona team: They have several players out injured and they may well win but on paper at least, I can’t remember ever seeing a more staggeringly ordinary Barcelona team in my lifetime.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Llorente, Savic, Gimenez, Hermoso, Carasco; De Paul, Koke, Lemar; Suarez, Felix.

Barcelona: ter Stegen; Mingueza, Pique, Araujo, Dest; De Jong, Busquets, Gonzalez; Gaviro, Depay, Coutinho.

Early team news

Kieran Trippier was forced off in the first half of Atlético Madrid’s win over Milan and is a major doubt for this evening’s game but otherwise Diego Simeone has a full squad to choose from. Unlike in the Premier League, on loan players are allowed to feature against their parent clubs in La Liga, which means Antoine Griezmann could start for Atleti after scoring his first goal in six games against Milan during the week.

Ronaldo Koeman, by contrast, has a raft of injuries to contend with. Strikers Sergio Aguero, Martin Braithwaite and Ousmane Dembele are all sidelined, while midfielder Pedri and left-back Alex Balde are also unavailable. Fit again after 11 months out following a bad knee injury that required four operations, Ansu Fati made a goal-scoring return from the bench against Levante last Sunday but is unlikely to start tonight as Koeman eases him back in to action.

The Wanda Metropolitano is the venue for tonight’s Spanish top flight clash between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who are fourth and seventh respectively in the La Liga table, separated by two points, with the hosts having played one game more.

After a decent start to the season, Atleti suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Alaves last weekend but bounced back with a rather fortuitous injury-time midweek win over AC Milan in the Champions League.

Still struggling to adjust to life after Leo, Barcelona’s financial problems have been well documented and manager Ronald Koeman is believed to be a dead man walking. His cause was certainly not helped by his side’s Wednesday night Champions League humbling at the hands of Benfica, their second defeat in two group games. Even victory tonight is unlikely to delay his apparently inevitable departure just as soon as a replacement – however unsuitable – is lined up.

Kick off in Madrid is at 8pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.