Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona: How Alex Baena and Lamine Yamal compare before La Liga clash

Atletico Madrid welcome Barcelona to the Metropolitano on Sunday, November 8, for a La Liga encounter between the two leading sides in the table, with both clubs looking to strengthen their positions at the top.

The hosts occupy second place after collecting 28 points from a possible 33 and winning their last seven league matches, while Barcelona hold a two-point advantage at the summit with 30 points from the same number of games, having made light work of Alaves in a 6-1 victory last weekend.

Both sides were also in Champions League action during the week, although their respective outings produced contrasting results, as Atletico suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich while Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Camp Nou.

Lamine Yamal continued his impressive scoring form by finding the net against Villa, becoming the highest-scoring teenager in Champions League history, while Alex Baena has quietly established himself as one of Diego Simeone's most dependable attacking outlets since joining Atletico.

With the pair expected to play important roles when the sides meet, Football Whispers takes a closer look at how their performances compare statistically in the 2026-27 La Liga campaign so far.

Alex Baena and Lamine Yamal: How do they compare?

Although both players are most effective operating out wide, they typically occupy opposite flanks, with Yamal predominantly featuring on the right for Barcelona and Baena being deployed mainly on the left for Atletico.

Yamal holds a clear advantage in the headline attacking statistics, having registered 10 goals and seven assists in 11 La Liga appearances compared with Baena's five goals and three assists. However, the difference becomes slightly less pronounced when their respective playing time is taken into account, with the Barcelona forward featuring for 905 minutes against his counterpart's 692.

Even after adjusting for minutes played, Yamal remains ahead, averaging 0.99 goals per 90 minutes to Baena's 0.65, while the former’s 17 goal contributions equate to 1.69 per 90 compared with the Atletico midfielder's 1.04.

Both players head into Sunday's meeting in encouraging form, with Baena's latest league contribution coming against Levante on October 31, when he played the ball inside for Giuliano Simeone to make it 2-0 in the 62nd minute, while Yamal enjoyed an even more productive afternoon by scoring twice in Barcelona's 6-1 triumph over Alaves.

Yamal has been considerably more active in front of goal, registering 59 shots compared with Baena's 23, which translates to approximately 5.9 attempts per 90 minutes against 3.0 for the Atletico man, although the latter has been more accurate, putting 43.5% of his efforts on target compared with Yamal's 32.2%.

Baena has also converted a greater proportion of his attempts, finding the net with 21.7% of his shots against Yamal's 16.9%, suggesting that although the Barcelona teenager has been more prolific, his Atletico counterpart has made better use of the opportunities that have come his way.

The expected goals figures offer another interesting comparison, with Baena scoring five times from an xG of 1.46 while Yamal has registered 10 goals from 7.25, meaning both have considerably outperformed their underlying numbers, although the Atletico midfielder's return represents the greater overachievement.

Yamal has also benefited from a penalty, which accounts for one of his 10 league goals, whereas Baena has yet to score from the spot, although both players have otherwise demonstrated an impressive ability to make the most of their attacking opportunities.

Their most recent Champions League outings offered contrasting fortunes, as Yamal opened the scoring against Aston Villa after just seven minutes, while Baena finished Atletico's defeat to Bayern without a goal or assist in a match where his side failed to find the net.