Barca are firmly in the driving seat with an eight-point advantage at the top, but they looked shaky and needed two goals in the 90th minute or later to rescue a remarkable 4-4 draw with Villarreal in midweek.

Victory for the defending champions this weekend would surely make them uncatchable for Atletico, but should the visitors spring a surprise and cut the gap to five then they will feel as though the race is well and truly on.

Here, Sports Mole rounds up Barcelona's latest injury and suspension news ahead of the contest.

BARCELONA'S INJURY LIST

Ousmane Dembele

Ousmane Dembele in action for Barcelona on December 2, 2018 © Reuters

Status: Major doubt
Type of injury: Hamstring
Possible return date: April 10 (vs. Manchester United)

Ousmane Dembele is reportedly recovering slower than expected from the hamstring injury he aggravated in the last 16 of the Champions League and, having initially been hopeful of making Saturday's match, next week's showdown with Manchester United now seems to be a more realistic target.

Rafinha

Barcelona's Rafinha pictured in October 2018 © Reuters

Status: Out
Type of injury: Knee
Possible return date: Unknown

Rafinha will not feature again this season, having torn his cruciate ligament in November.

Jasper Cillessen

Jasper Cillessen in Barcelona gear in December 2018 © Reuters

Status: Slight doubt
Type of injury: Hip
Possible return date: April 6 (vs. Atletico Madrid)

Firmly behind Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the pecking order, Jasper Cillessen may nonetheless be ready to return to the bench this weekend having resumed training following a hip injury.

BARCELONA'S SUSPENSION LIST

Arturo Vidal

Arturo Vidal pictured for Barcelona in January 2019 © Reuters

Arturo Vidal was one of seven Barcelona players to pick up a booking against Villarreal, but his resulted in a one-match ban which rules him out of Saturday's showdown.