Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid clash in a hot classic and fundamental for the future of La Liga

First of all, it will be an opportunity to take revenge on the only opponent who defeated him this season. For the other it will be the last chance to get back into the fight for the Spanish championship title. Boss real Madrid will receive this Sunday at 5pm at the Santiago Bernabéu Athletic of Madrid of Diego Simeone in a duel corresponding to the 23rd round of a race that is approaching the decisive segment.

Both reach this derby with positive stripes who support them. He Meringue, who beat Getafe 2-0 on Thursday awaiting the twentieth matchday, have accumulated six consecutive victories in the league which have allowed them to jump to the top, two points ahead of the surprising Girona. He Mattress manufacturerwho beat Rayo Vallecano 2 to 1 on Wednesday with a goal from Memphis Depay in the last minute, have five consecutive victories in all competitions, but are still far away in the league: they are third, 10 points behind their next rival.

This disadvantage puts the red and white team first the obligation to win if he intends to maintain his aspirations of obtaining the title. It will not be an easy task, as they will have to seek that victory in a fiefdom in which they do not prevail. for almost eight years. Their last victory at the Santiago Bernabéu dates back to 27 February 2016, when they won 1-0 with a goal from Frenchman Antoine Griezmann. Subsequently, he made nine appearances without managing to beat his neighbor (eight at the Bernabéu and one at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium): he drew four times and lost five.

“We have to play a match like the one we have always played against Real Madrid. “He is a rival of the best, he never loses or loses very little, he has excellent management of the dressing room with his coach, he has enormous footballing quality,” Simeone analyzed on Saturday in the press conference before the duel conceded. the city Majadahonda Sports.

“The team is responding very well in these last matches and we hope to continue along the same lines,” said the Argentine coach, who on Sunday will not be able to count on César Azpilicueta, the Uruguayan José María Giménez and the Frenchman Thomas Lemar, who are injured .

On the other hand, Italian Carlo Ancelotti He assessed that Sunday’s meeting “will not be decisive, but it will be important.” “If we win the next two games (against Atlético and Girona) we will have six more points and it will be excellent news, but nothing more. Because there is a lot of championship ahead. The important thing is that the team is included and does things well”, considered the coach, who will not be able to use the French Aurélien Tchouaméni (suspended) and will wait until the last minute for the recovery of the German Antonio Rüdiger, suffering from a discomfort in the left thigh. .

This will be the fourth meeting between these two opponents this season. The previous three were intense, full of goals and short circuits, and with the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior at the center of most of the discussions, including a rather lively one with Simeone in the last match. Of these three matches, Atlético emerged victorious in two. This is no small feat, given that those were Real Madrid’s only two defeats this season, in which they also recorded 27 wins and three draws.

The first duel between these two teams this season was on September 24, 2023, when the Mattress manufacturer They won 3 to 1 at the Metropolitano for the sixth round of the championship. Two goals from Álvaro Morata and one from Griezmann, all headers, gave the home team the victory (German Toni Kroos scored). That day the visitors complained bitterly about the alleged errors of the referee Javier Alberola Rojas, but no decision by the referee could hide the terrible performance of Ancelotti’s men.

He only had to wait three and a half months Meringue to avenge that setback: on January 10, 2024, at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, they won 5-3 in extra time in one of the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup. In the first 90 minutes, Rüdiger, the Frenchman Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal scored for Ancelotti’s team, and Mario Hermoso, Griezmann and Rüdiger (against) for Simeone’s team. In extra time, Joselu and Brahim Díaz gave victory to Real Madrid, who then beat Barcelona in the final.

Just eight days later they met again, this time at the Metropolitano and in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, and the victory was in the hands of Atlético, who won 4 to 2 in a duel also resolved in extra time. . Brazilian Samuel Lino and Morata gave the hosts the lead twice in the 90 minutes, but Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (against) and Joselu equalized later. In extra time, Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme definitively unbalanced the score. Then Atlético beat Sevilla in the quarter-finals and will now have to face Athletic Club de Bilbao in one of the semi-finals (the first leg will be on Wednesday in Madrid).

In principle, Sunday’s match will be the last match of the season between the two Madrid giants, although there is still the possibility that they will meet in the Champions League. Both are awaiting the round of 16 match: Real will face Leipzig (the first leg will be on 13 February in Germany) and Atlético will face Inter (the first duel will be on 20 February at the Metropolitano).