The highly anticipated Madrid derby of the season is here as jubilant Atletico travel to Santiago Bernabeu to face table-toppers Real Madrid. Diego Simeone's side are desperate for all three points to move up to second spot while a seventh consecutive win in the league for Real will extend their lead to eleven points.
RMA vs ATM Match Details :
When: Sunday, December 12/ Monday, December 13
Time: 21:00 (BST)/ 01:30 (IST)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
RMA vs ATM Match Preview :
Carlo Ancelloti settled their place in the Champions League by topping the group table defeating nearest challengers Inter 2-0 at the Bernabeu. Attention now turns to league duties as rivals Atletico travel to their home in an open challenge for the title. Madrid seems to have totally switched onto the Italian manager's tactics and have taken charge for the league title. Real haven't lost a game in any competition since their loss to Espanyol in early October putting them on the brink of a 10th straight wins. Moreover, they have swept aside rest of the title challengers in Sevilla and Real Sociedad having won at Barcelona in the Classico two months back. At Reale Arena in the last La Liga outing, Vinicius Jr and then an unlikely Luka Jovic scored to take the white shirt's point tally to 39 points after 16 games. Four more than Sevilla on the second spot. A win again will surely make them outright title favourites.
Colcheneros are fearful of the fact but hopeful in their might as they look to obtain all three points at the venue since an Antoine Griezmann's brilliant goal doing so back in 2016. It was the Frenchman again getting into the scoresheet in the midweek to score the opening goal with a 3-1 win over Porto in a crazy game. Simeone breathed a sigh of relief knowing his team sealed qualification to last 16 of the Champions League and a subsequent loss for Milan in the hands of Liverpool doing a perfect in the 'group of death' that put them there. The game was a high stake with frustration leading both sides to end with 10 men. It has been the characteristics of Simeone's men in this season. The La liga champions have proven to be fairly inconsistent and are desperate to close down the enormous gap between them and Real Madrid on top.
Recent Form (all competitions)
Real Madrid: WWWWW
Atletico: WLWLW
RMA vs ATM Team News :
A major boost for Real Madrid ahead of the derby is that they have Karim Benzema back in contention after the Frenchman missed the win over Inter Milan in midweek due to his hamstring injury. Along with him, Gareth Bale was found training with the team and now Carlo Ancelloti confirms the Welsh star's availability for the game. Bale could even start the game as a possibility which would be his fourth appearance in this La Liga season. Dani Ceballos is the only player out for Los Blancos.
Atletico Madrid was devoid of center backs for the Champions League outing against Porto but handed a major boost for this one with Gimenez fit to start. Stefan Savic remains out because of his thigh injury although Felipe is back as his suspension is only confined to European competitions. Diego Simeone also confirms that Luis Suarez will be available after the Uruguayan striker faced some discomfort in midweek. There is doubt over Kieran Tripper's involvement while Sime Vrsaljko is out with a head injury. Yannick Carrasco was sent off due to a violent conduct in the Champions League but his red card doesn't serve domestically so he will be back in the starting lineup.
RMA vs ATM Expected Lineups :
Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Rodrygo, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
Atletico: Jan Oblak; Felipe, Jose Gimenez, Mario Hermoso, Marcos Llorente, Koke, Rodrigo de Paul, Thomas Lemar, Yannick Carrasco, Antoine Griezmann, Matheus Cunha.
RMA vs ATM Head to Head :
Los Blancos haven't lost in the last eleven El Derbi Madrileno. In that period, Diego Simeone side have lost four games and drawn the rest. Last time Atletico tasted success was in 2016 and did the double over their city rivals back in 2014/15 with Simeone guiding his team a total of four success in the fixture during his tenure.
RMA vs ATM Dream11 Team Prediction :
GK: Courtois (RMA)
DEF: Militao (RMA), Gimenez (ATM), Alaba (RMA)
MID: Lemar (ATM), Casemiro (RMA), Kroos (RMA), Carrasco (ATM)
FW: Vini Jr (RMA), Benzema (RMA), Griezmann (ATM)
Match Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico
Like Diego Simeone style, Atletico will make it a hard agenda for Real playing in their backyard. But this has been the case for any other team in the league with Madrid triumphing regardless of their performance. It is expected that the home team will stretch their unbeaten streak to 12 derbies.
