Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid: Combined XI

Midfield:

Casemiro, Kroos and Isco (Real Madrid)

Dynamic

duo

An extremely tough call but I've decided on a midfield trio of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Isco which will be too hot to handle for any opposition. Atletico's Saul has been very good all season and on any other day, I would have gone with him.

Casemiro continues to do the dirty work of breaking up attacks, winning the ball back and lunging into tackles and in a fixture of such high intensity, he will be required to keep his composure. He has won more tackles than any other player in this season's Champions League and will be looking to continue that trend for the remainder of the season.

Kroos, like Ramos, is an automatic selection and continues to do what he does best - control the tempo of the game and initiate attacks from deep.

Kroos' pass completion rate since 2012 is scarily good:

The third man in our midfield is none other than Isco. It's common-sense that you find a place for a player of his calibre, but Zidane has overlooked this gem of a footballer many a time this season. However, Kroos has slowly climbed his way back in to starting contention. He had a 100% pass accuracy midweek against Juventus which goes to show his class.

He has 7 goals and 8 assists to his name this season. His movement between the midfield and forward lines, his positional awareness and the creative influence he can assert will have a huge say in deciding this week's winner.