Six factors that will decide the Madrid derby

#2 Raul Garcia

Atletico Madrid’s Raul Garcia

Raul Garcia might not the most talented player in the world, but he is definitely the best player in the world at what he does. There is not a single forward that can do the defensive work that the Spaniard does deep in the opposition’s area.

There is a saying in Football that the first line of defence is the forward. In most cases, this is just a saying, but not when the forward is Raul Garcia. His unreal work-rate makes him Atleti’s most important player, in a strict tactical sense, against Real Madrid. His job is to relentlessly press the defence and the holding midfielder and take the life-breaths out of them.

Last season, Xabi Alonso found it very hard to deal with him and this season the same happened with Toni Kroos in the previous encounter. In simple terms, Raul Garcia’s job is to stop the focal point – the supplier – of the opponent team from spraying possession and influencing the play, hence choking their very playing style.

Anyone with a little knowledge on the game knows that the deepest midfielder of the team is the base of all the attacking movements in a team. One of the very first instructions a manager gives his players is to not give the deepest midfielder any time or space – and a player like Raul Garcia is a manager’s delight because he is the best at that.

If Raul Garcia has a good game and succeeds at stopping Toni Kroos, the only thing remaining for Atletico Madrid to win the game is to score. And Raul Garcia can do that, too.