Atletico Madrid host Barcelona on Sunday evening at the Metropolitano, the standout fixture of matchday 12 in the Spanish league season.
According to Sport newspaper, the clash between Barca and the Rojiblancos will pit the Catalan side's goalscoring punch against the defensive solidity Atleti have rediscovered this season.
Under Hansi Flick, Barcelona have become a genuine goalscoring machine. They have reached 60 goals in just 15 matches, an average of four per game.
The Catalan side concede 1.2 goals a game, though. On paper, the equation looks like this: four goals scored against 1.2 conceded.
Look closer, and the picture turns more worrying. In their two biggest games this season, against Paris Saint-Germain (4-2) and Real Madrid (2-1), Barcelona scored only three goals while shipping six.
Diego Simeone's side, by contrast, are enjoying a fine start, with defensive solidity their most prominent feature.
Once again, after 11 matchdays, Atletico Madrid hold the best defensive numbers in the entire competition, and they comfortably surpass Barcelona in this respect.
Atletico have been breached just eight times in those 11 matchdays, an average of 0.73 goals per game, and they have kept six clean sheets. Barcelona, meanwhile, have conceded 12 goals and kept only four clean sheets.
The comparison carries more weight given that both teams are making a highly competitive start to the campaign.
Barcelona top the table with 30 points. Atletico sit second on 28.
Atletico Madrid's solidity
Still, the two teams represent contrasting poles, even if Atletico do not struggle in attack either. They have scored 22 goals, the third-highest tally in the competition.
Simeone has said himself that his team is still being built. The first step that lets Atletico compete with Spain's two giants is great defensive solidity, the quality that defined their golden title-winning eras.
Keep this up, and Atletico's players could become genuine contenders for the Spanish league title.
Consistency will be their biggest challenge. They have failed to sustain it for years, but the depth of the squad is improving all the time, particularly in the defensive line.
One of the key points lies in the variety of qualities among the players available to Simeone. Marc Pubill, Cristian Romero, David Hancko, Alex Grimaldo and Marcos Llorente offer five very different profiles, yet they can all fill more than one position and share a similar style.
Signing Cuti Romero has raised the ceiling of defensive performance and restored this part of Atletico's play to the elite level.
Barcelona's possession of the ball
Barcelona sit on the other side of the equation. Flick's side rely heavily on control through the ball, with a defensive line that at times takes huge risks to keep the high press going. The result is a team with enormous attacking capabilities.
In Barcelona's midfield, the same thing happens as in Atletico's defence: a wealth of options and the ability to fill more than one role. Rodri, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Bernal, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo all compete for just three positions.
Possession tells the story too. Barcelona average 70.2%, around 10% more than Villarreal, their closest rivals in this respect. Atletico come third with 58%.
Weak points
Things are not as ideal as they seem, though. Both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have problems across all positions, particularly in defence.
Flick's team have far fewer defensive options than Atletico, and they also suffer from the curse of injuries. The high line the German favours piles greater demands on his players.
Eric Garcia, Christensen and Kounde are currently sidelined through injury, while Gerard Martin is battling physical problems. It has become a recurring pattern across the three seasons Flick has spent in charge of Barcelona.
Atletico, for their part, have back-up at centre-back of a far lower level than the regular starters. Romero, too, is frequently prone to injury, and once you add the need to rotate players to avoid exhausting them, one name worries the Atletico faithful every time he steps onto the pitch: Robin Le Normand.
The Spain international has cost his team three goals this season by losing the ball inside his own penalty area, against Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Alaves.
He is also the only member of the defensive line yet to keep a clean sheet when starting.
Flick and Simeone have already met 10 times since the German's arrival at Barcelona, and two defensive conclusions stand out. Barcelona have kept just two clean sheets, while Atletico have managed only one win over the Catalan side, a match in which they conceded.