Real Madrid – Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atletico is unlikely to be productive

Real Madrid will play at home against Atletico in the King's Cup on Thursday 26 January. The cup tournament is important for Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti's team demonstrated this in the 1/8 final. Real Madrid won a very tough encounter against Villarreal. The Madrid side were trailing by two goals to the UEFA Champions League side but scored three goals in one half to remain in the tournament. Such a success helped the players build a positive momentum for the future. Real have already secured three points in the championship against Athletic in Bilbao. Thus, for the time being, Ancelotti's team are surviving despite their toughest schedule. Not even ten days have passed since their Super Cup defeat to Barcelona. Unexpected help came from Real's reserves. Seballos and Asensio were already considered largely unpromising performers in the context of this season, but they were the heroes of the two games. The players have come in very handy against the background of Modric and Kroos' lacklustre physicality. Karim Benzema's full-blown return is another good tidbit. The Frenchman is scoring again in almost every match. Alaba, Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez and Tchouameni are still missing due to injuries. For Atletico, the King's Cup is their only chance of winning a trophy this season. Importantly, the club are approaching the match on a positive note. In the championship, the Indians have climbed into the top four. In the King's Cup, there have been no problems in games against teams from the lower leagues. Additional attacking reinforcements came from Barcelona. Memphis Depay was a kind of substitute for Joao Felix. The naming attack looks very convincing, given that Antoine Griezmann is in his best form in several years. In the last match, Atletico won in an uncharacteristic manner. By the thirtieth minute, the club had already thrashed Valladolid. Griezmann was the hero of the encounter. The match was not without major disadvantages. An important player for Simeone, Marcos Llorente, was injured. The defence will suffer greatly as a result of this loss. Previously, the teams had played in the Spanish championship in September. Back then, Real Madrid won 2-1, but the situation is very different. At the moment, Atletico do not look any weaker. The club could well play Simeone's trademark tactics and deprive Real of chances. Given the one-match cup format, Simeone will be tempted to push the game into extra time. At the moment, Atletico's squad rotation options even look more solid. Either way, the match does not appear to be an open one before the game. Real's fatigue could be a significant factor. If we take the last eight face-offs, not a single game has seen a total of more than three goals.