La Liga Preview: Atletico Madrid – Real Madrid

A Hard Mattress Indeed

They say you can’t choose your football team, so it’s difficult not to hold a bit of sympathy for Atletico fans.

While historically one of the most successful clubs in Spain, over the last 15 years, the team that climbed far enough out of Real Madrid’s shadow to earn the 'other team from Madrid' title, has been far more famous for reliably underachieving. After all, it was this perennial frustration that drove Atletico poster-child and homegrown hero Fernando Torres away from his beloved childhood club.

After ending last season with such promise, Atletico had a torrid start to this year’s campaign and in just two months of play managed to nestle themselves into the basement of the Liga table, get their coach Abel Resino fired, and disappointingly bow out of the Champions League—although they did so respectably by drawing against Premier League powerhouses Chelsea in Quique Sanchez Flores’ European debut with the club.

But on Saturday all of these broken dreams will be put in the past as Los Rojiblancos face their bitter cross-town rivals, Real Madrid, in an historic encounter that will keep the Spanish capital buzzing even more wildly than it does on a typical Saturday evening.

Through and through, Atletico represent the 'people’s team', Madrid’s club of the working classes. Although the Vicente Calderon stadium is not too far away from the glitzy hubbub of La Castellana (the wide north/south Madrid avenue crowned by the Bernabeu), the contrast between the two clubs could not be more stark.

On the banks of the murky Manzanares River, the Calderon opens into the industrial south of the city, a region hit badly by the global economic recession and one that not too long ago was framed with ominous smokestacks and neighbourhoods. The people are hard here, and Atletico hinchas (fans) tend to be the hardest of the lot.

With Los Blancos taking the 15-minute bus ride south this weekend and Atletico just having shown the improvement and ability to compete with one of Europe’s strongest sides in their midweek Champions League match against Chelsea, these hinchas will be in full voice, making the Calderon a hornet’s nest of a place to play.

Having said that, it has now been 10 years since the Mattress Makers have beaten their bitter rivals in the Vicente Calderon.

A Real Improvement

Meanwhile, Los Blancos seem to be coming off a mini-crisis of their own—one that saw their own coach, Manuel Pellegrini, nearly shown the door after a string of unimpressive results.

But down to 10 men in the 27th minute of last weekend’s Liga encounter against Getafe, some kind of switch was turned on in Real Madrid and they inexplicably began playing better than they ever had all season—a man down, no less.

Long spells of possession, accurate passing, dogged pursuit in defence by more than just the defensive players, and a plethora of chances on goal saw Madrid put together the sort of attractive football over an extended period of time that the Madridismo had been whistling and jeering to see. The persistence of 'El Pipita' Higuain proved to be the difference in the match as the Argentine tallied a brace to take the full three points.

Against AC Milan at San Siro, Pellegrini’s men again showed that Real Madrid could be the side that €254 million in summer signings promised them to be as they dominated the first half of play. The second half was admittedly more in the Italian club’s favour, but the sensation surrounding the Spanish giants was that this was a team with the very real ability of offering championship football. As Kaka insightfully described moments after the final whistle, “Before, we won through individual efforts. Now one is beginning to see a team”.

However, one very important element of that team continues to be missing as Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out for nearly another month after failing to recover from the injury he initially suffered back on September 30 through an ugly tackle by Olympique de Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara.

Ronaldo’s absence in the derby is lamentable given the historical significance of the match, but should he be able to make a recovery on the current timetable, at least he will be fit in time to face Barcelona on the November 29 Clasico at the Camp Nou.


FORM GUIDE

Atletico Madrid

November 11 v Chelsea (H) DREW 2-2 (Champions League)

October 31 v Athletic Bilbao (A) LOST 1-0 (Liga)

October 27 v Marbella (A) WON 2-0 (Copa del Rey)

October 24 v Mallorca (H) DREW 1-1 (Liga)

October 21 v Chelsea (A) LOST 4-0 (Champions League)

Real Madrid

November 11 v AC Milan (A) DREW 1-1 (Champions League)

October 31 v Getafe (H) WON 2-0 (Liga)

October 27 v Alcorcon (A) LOST 4-0 (Copa del Rey)

October 24 v Sporting Gijon (A) DREW 0-0 (Liga)

October 21 v AC Milan (H) LOST 3-2 (Champions League)

TEAM NEWS

Atletico Madrid

In what Quique Sanchez Flores has dubbed as Atletico’s most important match of the year, the team will be missing sure-footed defender Juanito who has been unable to recover from injury along with goalkeeper Roberto. The defensive midfield also suffers as Paulo Assuncao is forced to sit out after an accumulation of yellow cards.

However, Kun Aguero and Pablo Ibanez have recovered from their respective knocks to be included in the squad; Pernia and Cabrera have been dropped by coach’s decision.

Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Asenjo – Valera, Perea, Pablo, A. Lopez – Reyes, Raul Garcia, Santana, Simao – Aguero, Forlan

Real Madrid

After losing their appeal to have Raul Albiol’s inexplicable red-card issued to him in the Getafe match rescinded, Real Madrid will be without the Spanish defender for the derby. With Ezequiel Garay and Christoph Metzelder being included in the squad just having recovered from injury, it seems likely that Sergio Ramos will make the switch to central defence, where he deputised nicely in the match against Getafe.

The highly publicised clash of words between Guti and Pellegrini following the Copa del Rey match continues to keep the Spanish press speculating that the coach is punishing the midfielder as Guti has failed to be included in the squad for the third consecutive match. Cristiano Ronaldo remains out with injury while Drenthe and Mahamadou Diarra are out of the squad due to the coach’s decision.

Probable Starting XI (4-2-2-2): Casillas – Arbeloa, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo – Xabi Alonso, Lass – Granero, Kaka, – Raul, Higuain



PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atletico Madrid

After failing to impress Abel Resino, Jose Antonio Reyes has been a strong figure in Quique Sanchez Flores’ squad. In facing his former club for which he won a Liga title under Fabio Capello, the Sevilla star will be keen to show why Los Blancos made a mistake in parting with him and should give Marcelo plenty to think about on the flank. Aguero and Forlan remain strong threats up front while Simao completes the Atletico attack on the left wing. In goal, Sergio Asenjo gives the Rojiblancos a top class keeper for the first time in some years and the youngster promises to be called upon to keep a strong Madrid attack from quieting the crowd.

Real Madrid    

Coming off his best showing in a Madrid shirt against Milan, Kaka will be the engine for Madrid’s assault on the Atletico goal. Behind him, Lassana Diarra has, in many ways, been Madrid’s player of the year, tirelessly winning back possession and circulating the ball in attack; he has even taken impressive efforts at goal from time to time. Finally, Raul is likely to get the start after warming the bench for the past two matches. The captain has a rich history with (having played in the Atletico youth ranks) and against Atletico and tends to score early and often in the derby.


PREDICTION

'El Derbi Madrileno' is more than an encounter between two nemeses; it is a clash between the Spanish capitol’s socioeconomic classes—the traditionally posh, cosmopolitan big spenders versus the traditionally modest, hard working, dirt-under-the-fingernails, labourers. While in the modern age of football both clubs have become large players in the global market, the history of this fiery affair remains as the underpinning for one of the most exciting matches in Spain.

With Atletico having shown real class in their midweek match against Chelsea, Quique Sanchez Flores will be keen to have his squad mount a comeback in La Liga and no game would be more important in spring boarding the Mattress Makers than a win against their bitter rivals. Conversely, Madrid have shown significant improvement in their latest matches and could be on their way to finding the red-hot form that befits a club of such pedigree.

Atletico Madrid 2-2 Real Madrid

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com

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