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Think goals, rough tackles, all out attacking, one team supposedly “bending over” for the other team and a manager whose future is in doubt. What do you have? Why, it’s El Derbi Madrileno (The Madrid Derby).
So once again, we’re at that crucial stage of the season where Real Madrid are going to face a few biggies in quick succession. They say that the true hunger, drive and mentality of a team can be seen in the way the reserve players handle games; if that is indeed true, I’ll say that our squad is ready. The kind of offensive display we showcased against Dinamo with almost our B team tells me that this squad is ready to tackle the upcoming crucial fixtures.
Moving on to the match, Atletico have become kind of a joke for us in recent years. For more than a decade in fact; which explains the title of this post which translates to “One Club to Rule Them All”. The last time our not so illustrious cross town rivals defeated us was way back in 1999. Imagine a squad comprised of players like Graveson, Walter Samuel, Emerson et al (remember them?) not losing a Madrid derby. Now imagine a squad comprised of Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Ramos, Ozil, Benzema, Higuain & Cristiano against an Atletico side which still hasn’t quite got into the groove yet and is already 15 points behind us. I think Atletico might be heading towards yet another loss.
Head to Head
Recent Form
Tactics
REAL MADRID
The Fantastic 4
Real Madrid have a nearly full squad with the only injuries being Kaka and Arbeloa. This gives Mourinho lots of options. As Pepe , Casillas and Ronaldo were all rested in the last game, we expect them to be definite starters . Di Maria has also returned from the injury bench, and we expect him to make an appearance but not be a starter . Marcelo is alos back in training and we expect him to start. Sahin had a good 90 minutes in the match against Dinamo, but we don’t expect him to start. The familiar double pivot of Alonso and Khedira will surely start for this game. Ozil’s brilliant performance in the last game gives us a reason to believe he’ll start. We expect the front quartet to be Benzema, Ozil, Cristiano and Higuain. It would be quite unfair on Callejon given his MOM performance against Dinamo, but I doubt Mourinho would be looking at the fairness of a situation against in a match as important as this one.
The match against Valencia could very well be the blueprint for the formation against Atletico. However, it could also serve as a smoke screen. Under Mourinho, we’ve become a team that can quickly transition from formations. We play a 4-2-3-1 and transit to a 4-3-3 in the same game and this could very well be the factor that can stymie Manzano’s planning.
Starting XI: Casillas, Lass, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Benzema, Ozil, Cristiano, Higuain
I don’t expect too much from Atletico to be honest. Attacking big teams hasn’t really got them anywhere so far except for some oomph moments. Their defensive frailty, coupled with the absence of their best striker Falcao means that Atletico are quite toothless. Therefore, it would be logical for Manzano to have his squad line up in a 4-5-1 formation with two defensive lines, try to bear our onslaught and rely on the pace of Jose Antonio Reyes and Arda on the break to try and score against us. Certainly, Manzano’s comments in the press suggest as much. In the 4-5-1, Adrian would probably play as the lone striker and will have to try and match Falcao’s heroics to the best of his ability. Diego will be deployed in a much defensively oriented role.
I expect Perea, Dominguez, Godin and Filipe Luis (sigh!) to make up the Atletico back-line. Although Perea has been quite reliable for Atletico in recent times, against Real Madrid I’ve always known him to give a woeful display. But then, so does the entire squad haha.
Starting XI: Courtois, Perea, Dominguez, Godin, Filipe Luis, Mario, Gabi, Reyes, Diego, Arda Turan, Adrian
Players to Watch
REAL MADRID
The entire front quartet play such a mesmerizing brand of football fueled by Alonso, Marcelo and Ramos from the back that it is difficult to pick out a single player. However, I think Ozil will shine over the others for this one.
ATLETICO MADRID
Jose Antonio Reyes and Diego are in top form currently. I expect Reyes to really shine out in this game.
Quotes
Manzano: “It won’t take us any further playing beautiful, open with a lot of attack if we can’t get the result. And that is what we need. I expect a tough and ugly game but with a lot of quality, because we are not the sisters of charity.We will play totally different. The team recognized what we were lacking in away games: control of the situation, of the game and the positioning during the whole match. I want the team not to concede a goal in the first thirty minutes.Real have gone a step forward this season. They keep their opponent back in their own half and pressure all the time. It’s another big step into the development of a great team. It happened because they choose the best players for their team and gave it some time. What we want at Atlético now is getting the time to develop the team”
Casillas: “In order to beat Atletico we’ll have to really show our teeth. They and their fans will be keen to get a good result”
Diego: “It would be a surprise to win at the Bernabeu. We have to play a perfect game there and respect Madrid as they deserve it. But we want to show our qualities and take advantage of the chances we create. We have to work very hard to do this“
Gabi : “We will go for victory. There is no reason to fear anyone. This is the moment to show we are a good team, we need to have a good match at the Bernabeu”
Trivia
- Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last 19 league derby meetings with Atlético, a run of 13 wins and six draws.
- Atlético have only managed to win on 12 of their 74 league visits to Chamartín, drawing another 12 and losing 50.
- Atlético have been defeated more often by Real Madrid in Primera than any other side (81 times), 18 more times than Barcelona (63).
- Atlético last beat Real in the league back in the 1999/00 season (1-3 at the Bernabéu).
- The last time Atlético were relegated (1999/00) they had the same number of wins after 12 games as they do this season (four).
- The merengues have only failed to find the net once in their last 31 league meetings with Atlético.
- Real Madrid are on a run of eight straight league wins, their best run since the arrival of José Mourinho.
- Real Madrid have bagged 75 goals in their last 20 league matches, averaging 3.75 goals per game.
- Atlético have only managed to win back-to-back games once so far this season (at home to Sporting and Racing).
- Real Madrid have scored the most goals in the league so far (42).
- Atlético have scored the most headed goals in LigaBBVA so far (six), while Real Madrid are yet to concede a goal in this way.
- José Mourinho’s men have scored the most goals from corners so far (four).
- Real Madrid have won all six games with Gonzalo Higuaín so far this season in the league, scoring 4.3 goals per game (2.6 without him).
- Atlético are one of the four teams against whom Cristiano Ronaldo has played in Primera but has not scored (along with Levante, Betis and Sporting).
- Atlético are unbeaten in the three league games when José Antonio Reyes has come on as a sub (two wins, one draw).
