And the Madrid derby is back again. The last time these 2 sides faced was in the quarter finals of last season's Champions league when a late goal from Javier Hernandez sealed a narrow victory for Real as Athletico crashed out 1-0 on aggregate.
Things have changed since then at Real Madrid as they sacked Carlo Ancelotti and brought in Rafa Benitez .Real haven't had the best of starts to their league campaign drawing 2 games out of 6 while their city rivals Atletico have already lost 2 games including a defeat to Barcelona .
It's also worth mentioning that the last league game between these 2 clubs saw Atletico thrash 'Los Blancos' 4-0 including goals from Mandzukic and Griezmann .Atletico also registered a 2-1 win against Real in their first league meeting last season .Atletico Madrid also got the better of Real in the Copa Del Rey when they won 4-2 on aggregate including a brace from Torres in the second leg .
This fixture could be very historic for Cristiano Ronaldo who needs only one goal to overtake Raul and become the club's leading goalscorer having reached 323 goals with a brace against Malmo in the Champions league last week. It's a bit of a funny situation for Ronaldo as he has scored in only one league game out of 6 games but found the back of the net 5 times in that game against Espanyol . It will be perfect for Real if Ronaldo can break the record against their city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Real's no.9 Karim Benzema will also be crucial for them having scored 5 league goals in 5 games and joining Ronaldo as the league top scorer.
Talking about key players in attack , Antoine Griezmann will be the player to watch for 'Los Rojiblancos' who is their top scorer in all competitions this season with 3 goals and 2 assists in the league and also grabbed a brace in the Champions league againsy Galatasaray.
Atletico will be keen to grab a victory having lost both their previous fixtures. Atletico will definitely feel the absence of Arda Turan who moved to FC Barcelona in the summer . The Turkish international was crucial for them over the past few years and played a huge role for them in 2013-14 when they lifted the Liga BBVA after 17 years and also reached the Champions league finals where they lost to Real in extra time .
This summer also saw the departure of striker Mario Mandzukic to Juventus and Atletico signed Jackson Martinez from Porto who seemed like he was on his way to AC Milan. Mandzukic and Griezmann had formed a good strike partnership but J.Martinez hasn't really delivered so far having scored only once in the League .Atletico will be hoping he can find his shooting boots in the Madrid derby and get back to his old form that made him so dangerous at Porto .
It will be interesting to see if Simeone picks his ex-teammate Fernando Torres for the clash .'El Nino' has found the back of the net twice including a goal against Barcelona in which they lost 2-1 .
Atletico Madrid are known for their aggression, discipline and strong defensive displays under Coach Simeone and they will be looking to Diego Godin to put in a strong perfrimance in defense and possibly keep a clean sheet .
Rafa Benitez will also be boosted by the return of Gareth Bale amd Sergio Ramos who have been declared fit but Benitez has ruled out James Rodriguez for the clash. It's unclear whether Benitez will be starting with Bale as he just made his return from injury and Benitez does have the services of Mateo Kovacic at his disposal who was signed from Inter in the summer and has had a couple of good games under his belt .
Real Madrid will be the favourites for the derby with Atletico's poor performances in the past few games but if there's one thing we know about Diego Simeone is that he sure knows how to beat Real Madrid.
Things have changed since then at Real Madrid as they sacked Carlo Ancelotti and brought in Rafa Benitez .Real haven't had the best of starts to their league campaign drawing 2 games out of 6 while their city rivals Atletico have already lost 2 games including a defeat to Barcelona .
It's also worth mentioning that the last league game between these 2 clubs saw Atletico thrash 'Los Blancos' 4-0 including goals from Mandzukic and Griezmann .Atletico also registered a 2-1 win against Real in their first league meeting last season .Atletico Madrid also got the better of Real in the Copa Del Rey when they won 4-2 on aggregate including a brace from Torres in the second leg .
This fixture could be very historic for Cristiano Ronaldo who needs only one goal to overtake Raul and become the club's leading goalscorer having reached 323 goals with a brace against Malmo in the Champions league last week. It's a bit of a funny situation for Ronaldo as he has scored in only one league game out of 6 games but found the back of the net 5 times in that game against Espanyol . It will be perfect for Real if Ronaldo can break the record against their city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Real's no.9 Karim Benzema will also be crucial for them having scored 5 league goals in 5 games and joining Ronaldo as the league top scorer.
Talking about key players in attack , Antoine Griezmann will be the player to watch for 'Los Rojiblancos' who is their top scorer in all competitions this season with 3 goals and 2 assists in the league and also grabbed a brace in the Champions league againsy Galatasaray.
Atletico will be keen to grab a victory having lost both their previous fixtures. Atletico will definitely feel the absence of Arda Turan who moved to FC Barcelona in the summer . The Turkish international was crucial for them over the past few years and played a huge role for them in 2013-14 when they lifted the Liga BBVA after 17 years and also reached the Champions league finals where they lost to Real in extra time .
This summer also saw the departure of striker Mario Mandzukic to Juventus and Atletico signed Jackson Martinez from Porto who seemed like he was on his way to AC Milan. Mandzukic and Griezmann had formed a good strike partnership but J.Martinez hasn't really delivered so far having scored only once in the League .Atletico will be hoping he can find his shooting boots in the Madrid derby and get back to his old form that made him so dangerous at Porto .
It will be interesting to see if Simeone picks his ex-teammate Fernando Torres for the clash .'El Nino' has found the back of the net twice including a goal against Barcelona in which they lost 2-1 .
Atletico Madrid are known for their aggression, discipline and strong defensive displays under Coach Simeone and they will be looking to Diego Godin to put in a strong perfrimance in defense and possibly keep a clean sheet .
Rafa Benitez will also be boosted by the return of Gareth Bale amd Sergio Ramos who have been declared fit but Benitez has ruled out James Rodriguez for the clash. It's unclear whether Benitez will be starting with Bale as he just made his return from injury and Benitez does have the services of Mateo Kovacic at his disposal who was signed from Inter in the summer and has had a couple of good games under his belt .
Real Madrid will be the favourites for the derby with Atletico's poor performances in the past few games but if there's one thing we know about Diego Simeone is that he sure knows how to beat Real Madrid.
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