Los Blanco, Spanish and European champions, were formidable last term, but could not overcome their local rivals Atletico Madrid. Well, those are the only two losses on Los Blancos’ tally, against the side they will face on Sunday in a La Liga clash against Diego Simeone’s Atleti. Atletico also defeated Madrid in La Liga and Copa del Rey this season, beating Madrid 2-0 in the round of 16 in January 2024.
Atletico Madrid, the last side to defeat Los Blancos in the league, did so more than a year ago. Since then, Carlo Ancelotti men have not been defeated in the 39 games played by them. However, Madrid will play the Rojiblancos without Mbappe Lottin, the summer buy who returned to Monaco after scoring 15 goals from 2 starts, pulling a thigh muscle in the midweek win against Alaves. Nevertheless, attacking talent remains Madrid’s strength. Vinicius Junior looks ready to rip the football apart for Brazil before the derby and Jude Bellingham might have an expanded role as an attacker.
A young striker named Endrick from Brazil is also making some impression coming off the bench. Ancelotti may have to work in a tactical change by adopting a 4-4-2 formation that sees Luka Modric coming in the middle of the pitch to check Atletico’s firepower.
It was a relatively quiet start, Madrid held to draws against Mallorca and Las Palmas in the first three rounds of La Liga, but now the team has taken five consecutive wins in all competitions. ‘We are getting better,’ said Ancelotti. ‘And that’s good because the calendar is very tight.’ “After the break, we have again played much better, and we will try to carry it to Sunday’s game which we expect to be very hard.”
Madrid occupies the second place on the Spanish La Liga table, five points behind rivals Barcelona. However, that gap could increase to seven points if Barcelona were to defeat Osasuna on Saturday before they faced off in the derby. Atletico Madrid who are two points behind their rivals come into the match on the back of a 1-0 victory against Celta Vigo in a match that was won by a stunning 90th-minute strike from Julian Alvarez.
Alvarez has been having spells with Simeone having deployed him in different capacities and he may be in line for a start. “If there is one player in the world that can play in different positions, it is he,” added Simeone. “I am happy that he can play as a striker or as an attacking midfielder which will strengthen the team.”
Player to Watch: Aimar Oroz
Aimar Oroz, the 22-year-old Osasuna’s midfielder is expected to make the difference when the Spanish league leaders Barcelona come to El Sadar on Saturday. This has been due to Oroz’s decent goal-scoring threat whenever he plays in support of Croatian talent, Ante Budimir and the energetic wily Oroz, to confront Barcelona midfield.
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