One of the biggest matches on the Spanish football calendar will take place in Madrid on Sunday evening, as Atletico Madrid welcome Barcelona.

The hosts are second in the La Liga table, boasting a record of nine wins, one draw and one defeat from their opening 11 matches of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Barcelona are at the summit, with their record this season standing at 10 wins and one defeat from 11 fixtures.

Barcelona are two points clear of second-placed Atletico, while third-placed Real Madrid are only three points off the top at this stage of proceedings.

Atletico will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, while Barcelona recorded a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa last time out in the same competition.

Here, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and past meetings between the two teams ahead of their contest in the Spanish capital.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 253

Atletico wins: 80

Draws: 57

Barcelona wins: 116

Barcelona lead the overall head-to-head record between the two sides, having recorded 116 wins to Atletico's 80, while there have also been 57 draws in this particular fixture.

The Catalan outfit have also comfortably outscored their opponents, finding the back of the net on 475 occasions in their 252 matches against Atletico, while the capital outfit have managed 367.

Lionel Messi is the leading goalscorer in this fixture, finding the back of the net on 32 occasions against Atletico, which is 16 ahead of Cesar Rodriguez in second position.

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona also lead the head-to-head record in La Liga, winning 83 of their 178 matches to Atletico's 53, while there have also been 42 draws in Spain's top flight.

Thirteen of the last 19 meetings between these two sides have come in La Liga, and Barcelona had been on a five-game winning run against Atletico at that level, including 1-0 and 3-0 successes during the 2023-24 campaign.

However, Atletico shocked their rivals in December 2024 with a 2-1 victory at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, with Alexander Sorloth netting a last-gasp winner.

Barcelona did manage to gain revenge in the reverse match at Wanda Metropolitano, coming from two goals behind late on to record a 4-2 victory against their title rivals, and Blaugrana made it back-to-back wins in this fixture with a 3-1 triumph in December 2025. 

The pair have also met in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey in 2025-26, with Atletico running out 4-3 winners on aggregate, but Barcelona won their last league match 2-1 in April 2026, with Robert Lewandowski netting a late winner to send Hansi Flick's side seven points clear at the top of La Liga.

In the Champions League, the pair have met six times, with Atletico recording three wins and suffering two defeats, and their three previous quarter-final ties in the competition have ended in Atletico advancing to the semi-finals.

Most recently, in the 2025-26 quarter-finals, Atletico Madrid sealed a 2-0 first leg victory away from home before narrowly losing 2-1 in the reverse fixture, meaning Simeone's side still managed to advance as 3-2 winners on aggregate.

Last 20 meetings (all competitions)

Apr 14, 2026: Atletico 1-2 Barcelona (Champions League Quarter-Finals)

Apr 8, 2026: Barcelona 0-2 Atletico (Champions League Quarter-Finals)

Apr 4, 2026: Atletico 1-2 Barcelona (La Liga)

Mar 3, 2025: Barcelona 3-0 Atletico (Copa del Rey Semi-Finals)

Feb 12, 2026: Atletico 4-0 Barcelona (Copa del Rey Semi-Finals)

Dec 02, 2025: Barcelona 3-1 Atletico (La Liga)

Apr 02, 2025: Atletico 0-1 Barcelona (Copa del Rey Semi-Finals)

Mar 16, 2025: Atletico 2-4 Barcelona (La Liga)

Feb 25, 2025: Barcelona 4-4 Atletico (Copa del Rey Semi-Finals)

Dec 21, 2024: Barcelona 1-2 Atletico (La Liga)

Apr 17, 2024: Atletico 0-3 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dec 03, 2023: Barcelona 1-0 Atletico (La Liga)

Apr 23, 2023: Barcelona 1-0 Atletico (La Liga)

Jan 08, 2023: Atletico 0-1 Barcelona (La Liga)

Feb 06, 2022: Barcelona 4-2 Atletico (La Liga)

Oct 02, 2021: Atletico 2-0 Barcelona (La Liga)

May 08, 2021: Barcelona 0-0 Atletico (La Liga)

Nov 21, 2020: Atletico 1-0 Barcelona (La Liga)

Jun 30, 2020: Barcelona 2-2 Atletico (La Liga)

Jan 09, 2020: Barcelona 2-3 Atletico (Spanish Super Cup Semi-Finals)

Dec 01, 2019: Atletico 0-1 Barcelona (La Liga)

Last 10 La Liga meetings

Apr 4, 2026: Atletico 1-2 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dec 02, 2025: Barcelona 3-1 Atletico (La Liga)

Mar 16, 2025: Atletico 2-4 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dec 21, 2024: Barcelona 1-2 Atletico (La Liga)

Apr 17, 2024: Atletico 0-3 Barcelona (La Liga)

Dec 03, 2023: Barcelona 1-0 Atletico (La Liga)

Apr 23, 2023: Barcelona 1-0 Atletico (La Liga)

Jan 08, 2023: Atletico 0-1 Barcelona (La Liga)

Feb 06, 2022: Barcelona 4-2 Atletico (La Liga)

Oct 02, 2021: Atletico 2-0 Barcelona (La Liga)