State of affairs
If at first it was possible to say that Real Madrid was obviously stalling in some crisis, and Zinedine Zidane was not very good at getting the game back on track, now the "creamy" teams have made a good move and even broke into the top of the La League against the background of losses of points to the other teams. This was emphasized before the game and Diego Simeone, who began to praise the opponent:
In the derby, everything is decided by small details, which can tilt the scales in one or the other direction. "Real Madrid showed a significant improvement in the game with Seville, and then in the match with Osasuna he confirmed his level. I think he will continue to do so. Real Madrid have a very good squad. This is a difficult opponent. Bale made progress, Benzema is on the rise, Azar has great potential. Real Madrid has a very good backbone.
In the Spanish championship Real Madrid does not know any defeats, but not so long ago they played a couple of draw matches, then beat Levante with a squeak, and then went on to increase - after a painful blow in the form of a defeat from the PSG in France with a score of 0:3. "Real Madrid beat Seville (1-0) in a very important game of principle, which was very good at the start. Then he consolidated his success in the match with Osasuna (2-0). Two victories in a row without missed balls, with the opening of different squads, taking into account the rotation - and have already talked about the growth of the quality of Real Madrid's game.
"Unlike their neighbour, Atletico already knows the bitterness of defeat in La Liga. He lost a couple of weeks ago to Real Sosiedad (0-2), then there was a draw with Selta (0-0), preceded by the most difficult match of the Champions League with Juventus (2-2). But in the last round, Atletico interrupted the streak without victory and defeated Mallorca (2-0). So the pace is not lost, Simeone's team is fighting for leadership. The intrigue is added by the fact that no one in Spain now looks invincible and flawless - everybody gives up.
History of relations
"Atlético and Real have met 177 times. The overwhelming advantage, of course, is the "creamy" ones. They won more than half of all matches - 92. Atlético won only 44 times, and 41 times the games ended in a draw. Their most recent meeting was one of the main events of the entire European off-season. At the end of July, as part of the International Champions Cup, Real Zidane defeated Atletico 7-3. Even then, the panic-prone Real Madrid fans began to grab their heads. Although it is clear that this is only a preseason tournament. The last official matches between them turned out to be quite persistent. "Real Madrid beat Atletico (3-1) away in February this year as part of the national championship. At Santiago Bernabeu last season, the game ended in a zero draw. And in the Super European Cup in 2018, the "mattresses" defeated the "creamy" in extra time. So even over the past year, this encounter has been reminiscent of a swing.
- The approximate squad of Atletico are: Cloud, Tripper, Savic, Jiménez, Lodi, Coca, Nygues, Parti, Lemar, Felisch, Costa.
- The approximate composition of Real Madrid is as follows: Kurtois, Karwahal, Varan, Ramos, Nacho, Kazemiro, Croos, Bale, James Rodriguez, Azar and Benzema.
After the injury, Lemar returned to Atletico, who will be ready to play in this match. An important reinforcement, as the mattress players will not be able to count on the ex-cream Alvaro Moratu in the attack - he is serving his suspension. He won't be able to realize his former club's vengeance factor. "Atletico is accustomed to playing without Diego Godin and Antoine Grizmann, who in many ways symbolized the team in recent years. But the successful start of the season as a whole shows that the main capital of the "mattress players" - is Simeone, who is able to sculpt a fighting team with a characteristic style, even with radical changes in the composition.
Returning to Simeone's words, we can read that the coach would like to meet with Real a little early when the "creamy" team has not yet managed to stabilize the squad. The same Azar missed the start because of an injury, it was not clear what to do with Bale and Rodriguez. Now Zinedin Zidane's team has decided on the whole how they want to play and who to count on.
Saul Nyges (Atlético midfielder):
This is a match in which you dream your whole life to play. The atmosphere outside the stadium before this meeting is completely different from everything else. We approach the match with Real with great enthusiasm. Expectations are very good. It will be a very difficult, very difficult game. We know that now Real Madrid is not going through the easiest times, but this team is always dangerous and specially tuned for matches with us.
Coke (Atlético midfielder):
I want the first victory to happen. It's time to beat Real Madrid at our stadium. We don`t want revenge - we`ve just been playing at the stadium for two years, and the fans want to see a victory in the derby. All the talk about the fact that now Real Madrid is "dead" is meaningless, they are at the top of the table. This means everything.
Zinedine Zidane (head coach of Real Madrid):
In a match with Atletico, we should have a cold head and think about what we should do. This is a dangerous opponent with a large arsenal of opportunities. But I am interested in what we are going to do. We are ready to show a great performance. We will have to invest a lot of aspects in it, not only intensity. If we do our best from the first minute to the last minute, I think everything will be fine.
Both teams are afraid of each other. But both will play to win because they have enough misfire and pressure to start the season. In an unstable situation at the top of the standings, the outcome of such matches can be decisive. For Zidane, of course, who has correctly noticed that after each victory they say that he stays, and after each defeat - that he leaves.