Atletico Madrid v Sevilla: Guillem Balague previews the high stakes La Liga clash

Atletico Madrid's Sky Live clash with Sevilla is a game neither team can afford to lose. Guillem Balague analyses Sunday's showdown...

While Barcelona and Real Madrid battle for the league in Spain, there is still a chance Sevilla could spring a surprise and win the title. But to do so, they will have to beat Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

On the other hand, Atletico boss Diego Simeone knows that any mistake could take his team out of the top four in favour of Real Sociedad. The stakes are very high.

Last season, Sevilla may have won the Europa League but they finished seventh in La Liga, a huge 36 points behind third-placed Atletico.

This year, under the management of Jorge Sampaoli, it's Sevilla who are in third, with Atletico trailing them by five points in fourth.

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Sampaoli has made the side believe they can improve and win games especially away from home, while at Atletico players seem to respond less and less to the huge demands of Simeone.

With just 11 games to go this season, there's a real chance that for the first time since 2012, Atletico will finish outside of the top three. Sevilla, meanwhile, are on course for their highest finish since 2009.

So what's brought about the change? Well, it's all to do with the styles Simeone and Sampaoli have tried to employ this season.

First, let's take a look at what Sampaoli has been doing at Sevilla. After all, his work at the club has put in the frame to be named as the next Barcelona manager.

Sevilla's passing and possession stats are up by quite a distance from last season under the management of Unai Emery.

That reflects Sampaoli's desire for his team to take control of the ball. He wanted his players to play without fear. And it's been a success. The knock-on effect is that the goals they've scored per game have gone up, the goals they've conceded per game have gone down - and now they're riding high in La Liga, with some impressive wins under their belt.

Sevilla beat Real Madrid in January and earlier in the season they won 1-0 at home to Atletico Madrid thanks to a goal from Steven N'Zonzi. The former Blackburn and Stoke midfielder has been a revelation this season and is among the top players when it comes to numbers of passes in La Liga.

But Sevilla's shift in style has also been helped by the 11 signings they made last summer. Sampaoli has cleverly found a way to get the best out of his new arrivals.

The Argentine is famed for his tactical ability and Sevilla have varied their formations throughout the season to overcome different challenges. In fact, they've used a wider range of formations than any other side in La Liga.

From the popular 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-2-1 and even 3-5-1-1, Sampaoli has kept the opposition guessing. But that brave, bold playing style has been a trademark of Sevilla regardless of their formation.

At Atletico there's been a change in style too. Simeone's players have had great success in recent years with their physical, well-organised and defensively secure approach. But there was a move at the start of this season to try to be more attacking, to be better with the ball - and it's had mixed results.

Atletico are making more short passes per game, fewer long passes and taking more shots. While they've scored just seven goals from set pieces, compared to Real Madrid's 13, they have become a threat in other ways, increasing the number of shots they take every game.

However, they are not scoring many more goals than they did last season, while, at the other end, they've already conceded more times than they did in 2015/16.

That's a problem for Simeone. But they do at least have this man, Antoine Griezmann, in their team. And he's becoming one of the best players in the world.

The Frenchman should break the 20-goal barrier in La Liga for the third season in a row, while he's already made a career-high number of assists this year.

His attacking contributions have sparked suggestions he could be on his way to Manchester United in a huge transfer deal this summer - although he denies any deal has been done - and he'll be someone Sevilla must find a way of stopping on Sunday if they are to get something from the game.

This is a game where a draw is simply not enough. With the future of Simeone and Sampaoli up in the air, the result could define what they will do next season.

Would Sampaoli impress Barcelona enough? He got the win over Atletico earlier this season thanks to this goal from Nzonzi. And how about Simeone? Would he feel he cannot get more of these players if he were to lose again?

This is more than just a game. And you can watch it live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 3pm on Sunday.