On this evening, the clubs from Madrid, "Real" and "Atletico", will compete for the second and third places in the "La Liga" championship. Although both teams are significantly behind the leading "Barcelona", their match not only directly influences the fate of the second place in Spain, but also extends the intriguing history of their rivalry, which has lasted for more than two hundred matches and never fails to captivate the capital of Spain. "Eurofootball.com" presents a review of the Madrid derby.
"Real" vs. "Atletico"
Match time and place: February 27 at 17:00 at "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium in Madrid;
Referee: Carlos Closas Gomez;
Head-to-head history: "Real" won 107 matches, "Atletico" celebrated victory 53 times, and 51 matches ended in a draw;
Teams' form: "Real" (4 wins, 1 draw), "Atletico" (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss);
Tournament situation: After 25 rounds, "Atletico" has 55 points and holds the second place, while "Real" with one point less occupies the third position. "Barcelona" leads the championship with 63 points.
Teams' news:
"Atletico":
Tonight, the visitors will be without Stefan Savic, Thomas, Tiago, and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco. While Thomas is not a regular starter, and Tiago has been absent from the "Atletico" squad for a long time, the other two losses were suffered more recently. Carrasco got injured in a match against "Getafe" a couple of weeks ago, while Savic got injured after Wednesday's Champions League game against PSV.
"Real":
Before the Madrid derby, "Real" received two pieces of news. Firstly, forward Karim Benzema returned to the squad after missing the previous "La Liga" round, where the Madrid team lost two points in an away game against "Malaga". The other news was more somber for "Real" fans, as they will have to do without Marcelo, who has muscle problems, in the derby.
Meanwhile, two other long-term injured players, Gareth Bale and Pepe, will also miss this match.
Key facts before the match:
Since Diego Simeone took over as the head coach of "Atletico" at the end of December 2011, the team has not lost a Madrid derby for thirteen consecutive years. From that moment when the Argentine became the team's head coach, they have won more Madrid derbies than their rivals (6 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses);
This will be the tenth official match between these clubs in the last two seasons. In the nine games played before, "Real" won only once (1 win, 4 draws, 4 losses);
Recently, "Real" has been struggling against "Atletico," even at home - in the last five derbies at "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, the hosts won only once (1 win, 2 draws, 3 losses);
Atletico's attack has not been shining recently - they have not scored a goal for 269 minutes in a row;
The top goalscorer Antoine Griezmann of "Atletico" has not scored in the last five matches. This is the longest period without goals for the Frenchman this season. Until now, the longest goal drought for the forward lasted for three matches;
In the Spanish league, "Real" is the most productive team with 71 goals scored, while "Atletico" is the best defensive team with only 11 goals conceded;
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema together have scored 41 goals in the Spanish championship - this is more than the entire "Atletico" team;
This season, "Atletico" has only conceded two goals in two matches in "La Liga" - both times against "Barcelona". In all other matches, "Atletico" either kept a clean sheet or conceded only one goal;
Both Zidane and Simeone have been former players of their current teams. The Frenchman played 144 matches for "Real" in "La Liga," while the Argentine, in charge of "Atletico," wore their jersey 133 times in the Spanish league. They only faced each other once - in the 2003-2004 season, when Zidane's team won 2-0 at "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium;
Simeone has much more experience leading the team - he has been the coach of "Atletico" in 242 matches, while Zidane will only have his ninth match at the helm of "Real".
