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Defending champions Atletico Madrid resume their rivalry against European Champions Real Madrid, in the first key match of the season. Los Colchoneros will be driven by the fact that they have already defeated their neighbours in this years’ Spanish Super Cup and will look to keep the momentum going.
Whereas Real Madrid will aim to bounce back from their shocking 4-2 defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad and will try to avoid any further slip-ups. Ronaldo’s return from an injury is a morale booster.
Venue:
The first of the 2 league clashes will be held in Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, where Atletico still hold the memories of the historic Copa Del Rey triumph over the hosts last year.
The stadium boasts a capacity of 85,454 and undoubtedly, more than half of the spectators will be rooting for the home side.
Kick-off time:
The match is scheduled to kick-off at 23:30 (IST), Saturday and will be aired on Star Sports 2.
Possible starting lineups:
Real Madrid: After the departure of Deigo Lopez to A.C Milan, Iker Casillas’ way into the starting XI was imminent. He has appeared for the first 2 league matches of this season and is expected to do so this time as well. While Daniel Carvajal remains the only major absentee in the backline, Alvaro Arbeloa may come in for his replacement and alongside him are the usual members- Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo.
Kroos, Modric and James will reprise the midfield roles with the offensive triumvirate of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo leading the atack.
Predicted line-up : Iker Casillas; Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; James Rodriguez; Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atletico Madrid: With Oblak being the probable one standing betwen the bars, Miranda and Godin are poised to take over the central midfield positions, with Juanfran and Sequira filling from the either side. Gabi and Tiago will attempt to distort the smooth function from the midfield, Koke will occupy the advanced midfield position and try to create chances for Griezmann and Mandzukic upfront, as soon as he gets the ball into possession.
Predicted line-up : Oblak, Guihlerm Sequira, Deigo Godin, Miranda, Juanfran; Koke, Tiago, Gabi ,Raul Garcia; Antoinne Griezmann, Mario Mandzukic.
Key facts and stats :
Real Madrid currently sits 10th in the table whereas their city rivals are up at 6th.
This will be the 155th derby in the league and 255th overall.
Real Madrid have lost just one league match at home to Atletico Madrid in last 15 years.
Last 5 meetings between the two sides has resulted in 2 victories for Real,1 for Atletico and 1 game ending in a stalemate.
Key Battles:
Mario Mandzukic vs Iker Casillas
On the back of finding a potential repalcement for Diego Costa, Atletico made a surprise move for Mario Mandzukic, who was released by his former club Bayern Munich, thereby restoring their attacking potency.
Mandzukic is more of a static than mobile. He isn’t a clinical finisher and his technical skills such as passing and dribbling leaves a lot to be desired. Contrast to that, Mandzukic possess great areial abilites and had a whooping 43% of his Bayern goals last season through a header. But the man who will be trying to ruin his chances of scoring is Iker Casillas.
The Spaniard had a miserable time at Brazil World Cup and his shambolic form seems to persist still. He desperately needs to revive his goal-keeping verve, as the Croat will be lurking to make the most of his shaky form.
Midfield mayhem
The core of Atletico’s success last season was an organised and well orchestrated midfield. Boasting the likes of Arda Turan, Koke, Gabi, Atleti have one of the best midfield lineup in Europe.
Up against them, are Toni Kroos, James Rodrigues and Luca Modric. The former has easily settled in the squad whereas James, who is yet to hit his top form, is likely to be the farthest of the three, with Luca Modric dropping deeper in the midfield.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale vs Juanfran and Guilherme Siqueira
The wings of Real Mdrid, Ronaldo and Bale, were paramount figures in Real’s success last season. The duo had ripped every defence apart and had a total of 73 goals between them.
So for the goals to keep coming, they’ll have to get past Atletico’s obdurate defence in the form of Juanfran and Sequira. The former had a great season in 2013-14 whereas Sequira has made only 1 appearance this season since his move to the Spanish capital in the summer, and may take time to find his feet.
To render Ronaldo and Bale ineffective is a very tedious job, given their thunderous runs and impeccable dribblings. Suffice to say, their opposite numbers need to have as much brains as brawn to accomplish their task.
Predictions:
Both the teams made a sluggish start to the campaign and both have dropped points in their opening 2 games, clearly underlying the fact that they are yet to hit the top form.
Although Los Blancos are at home for this fixture,a vicotry is, however, not guaranteed as their neighbours no longer remain as the underdogs and have now become a force to be reckoned with.
With the home side gunning for a revenge for the Spanish Super Cup defeat, sparks are set to fly in this derby.
Predicted Scoreline : Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid
