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After the final international break of 2017, league football continues this weekend with many fascinating games taking place across Europe. There's the North London derby in England and in Italy, Roma and Lazio will play out the first Rome derby of the season.
However, the most talked about matchup will probably be the Madrid derby in Spain. Atletico and Real will face off for the first time after the latter beat their city rivals in May on their way to a second consecutive Champions League title.
The Madrid derby often provides many talking points, but this time there is also a high probability that it will disappoint. Here are five reasons why that might happen.
#5 Both sides in poor form
When Real won the Spanish Super Cup in August, beating Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate, it looked they will be running off with the La Liga title. Instead, the roles have reversed. After 11 rounds played Barcelona is topping the table with an 8-point edge over both Madrid sides. Surprisingly, Valencia have turned out to be their biggest challenger so far.
Real, who lost just three league games in total last season, are already limping in the title race after two losses and winning only half of their six home matches. Valencia and Levante robbed two points from them at the Bernabeu and Betis even managed to beat them with a late goal, their first win at the home of the European champions since 1998.
The other defeat came at the end of October as promoted Girona embarrassed Zinedine Zidane and his men with a 2-1 home win. Across all competitions, Real have suffered two defeats in their last three outings. The form is far from ideal as they are set to face their city rivals.
Atletico haven't done much either. Diego Simeone's team actually is one of only three sides still unbeaten in Spain, but they have drawn a lot of games in the process. Five to be exact. They've also played out consecutive draws in the Champions League against minnows Qarabag, a disappointing outcome considering their prolific performance at the tournament in recent years.
With both teams struggling with form, it's quite possible that the football on show on Saturday won't be of the highest quality.
#4 Key injuries
Both teams will be missing key players because of injuries and that adds another blow to the fixture. Koke and Yannick Carrasco both haven't played for quite a while now. They are back in training, but might not feature in the match. And even if they do, a month-long absence will surely leave a mark on their performance.
In defense, Simeone can't count on Filipe Luis, who's had a number of injury problems this season. The latest one being a pulled hamstring he picked up in the 1-1 home draw with Qarabag.
Real could still be without goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who hasn't played since October 17, and will be missing key offensive personnel. Isco, who's been the spark plug for the side after breaking into the starting XI, returned from international duty with a leg problem. He hasn't yet been completely ruled out, but there's a chance that he could miss the crunch game.
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale is certain to miss the match. He suffered a thigh strain last week in training and will probably be out until 2018. He's missed 40 of the last 60 games for Real through various injuries and it's been counted that overall the Welsh superstar has had 19 different injuries since moving to Madrid in 2013. Talk about bad luck.
You always want to see the best players on the pitch when two great teams meet, but that sadly won't happen in the Madrid derby this time.
#3 Out of form players
This point is connected to the first one. You can't have good form when your players aren't performing well on the pitch. That has happened for both Madrid sides this season.
January can't come quickly enough for Atletico. They badly need some scoring punch with only 16 goals so far in 11 league outings. Diego Costa will certainly help them in that regard, but his second coming is still a while away.
Angel Correa is currently Atleti's leading scorer in the league with four goals. Antoine Griezmann, who had 16 league goals and 32 overall last season, has found the net just twice in La Liga this season. Defensive midfielder Thomas Partey has so far scored more (2) than Kevin Gameiro and Fernando Torres combined. As a matter of fact, he even has more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored his only league goal on October 14 in a 2-1 away win over Getafe. He's played in seven matches and has had 13 shots on target, so you can't say the likely Ballon d'Or winner has not had chances to find the back of the net. With his goals missing, Real has so far scored only 22 goals. That's eight less than Barcelona and Valencia.
Ronaldo's goal drought in the league is actually a bit bizarre as he has six Champions League goals in four matches.
Karim Benzema also has only one league goal to his name. Isco and Marco Asensio are sharing the top scorer honors for the club with four goals each.
#2 Focus might be elsewhere
It's a bit silly asking this, but does this Madrid derby actually matter? It's still relatively early in the season and points lost in this match can easily be recuperated during the rest of the year. The same goes for winning the fixture. You might lose these points somewhere else soon.
For Atletico at least, motivation could be questioned. Their poor results against Qarabag have put them in a very tough situation in Europe. With four games played, there's a four-point gap with Chelsea, who currently hold the last qualifying spot in the Champions League's Group C.
Atletico will have to win both of their remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for the Round of 16 for the 5th consecutive year. They can make the final match day in the group very interesting if they beat Roma at home next Wednesday. If Chelsea does their business away to Qarabag, then the top 3 in the group will be within four points before the final round of fixtures.
What do the fans want more? Winning the season's first derby or getting past the group stage in the Champions League that will give the team a chance to chase another final spot in the competition? And who knows, maybe they have a chance to knock out Real in Europe and have their revenge for all the losses suffered in previous years.
Real, who visit APOEL on Tuesday, has had its own problems in Europe as well. They failed to beat Tottenham in both games and are yet to secure qualification with only seven points picked up so far.
#1 Atletico's new stadium
This derby will be the first one ever at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium. It will certainly be a special occasion, but it won't have the special atmosphere of the Vicente Calderon stadium.
The Calderon was Atletico's home for over 50 years. It was filled with various memories and special emotions. When you had to play there as a visitor, you knew you would be in for a tough time and even avoiding a defeat could've looked like a big accomplishment.
At first, the Wanda Metropolitano surely won't have the same feeling, for either side on the pitch.
Atletico has struggled during their early days at the 67,700 capacity stadium that will host the 2019 Champions League final. They have won only half of their four league games there, scoring just five times. Back in September, a 2-1 Chelsea win meant that Atletico lost at home to an English team for the first time ever.
The Vicente Calderon stadium, which was opened in October 1966 is a pretty old stadium and it will take some time to build the same kind of intimidating atmosphere at their new home.
The feeling of an unusual support could be the main reason why the Atleti players seem to be struggling to get results at home this season. It's been five seasons since they last failed to win at least 14 La Liga matches at home. Judging by the start made this year, this run seems to be heading towards an end.
