With Barcelona’s lead in the Spanish League not looking to cut down anytime soon, Real Madrid have no room for mistakes in their next games ahead with a derby game against Atletico coming up.
Madrid goes into this match on a streak of five straight wins in all competitions, including triumphs against Al Ahly and Al-Hilal in Morocco earlier this month to win the 2022 Club World Cup. Carlo Ancelotti’s team must keep winning and hope that Barcelona slips up.
Real Madrid has also won its past two league games, triumphing 6-2 in the first leg of their last-16 match at Anfield against Elche and Osasuna while scoring six goals and allowing none. On Tuesday night, Real Madrid also scored a notable victory in the Champions League.
The Reds had a two-goal lead early on, but Los Blancos went on to score five goals, giving them a good chance to advance to the competition’s quarterfinals.
On March 2, Barcelona and Ancelotti’s club will play in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal, and both teams will be vying for three major titles in the season’s final months.
Real Madrid overcame Atletico 2-1 in the reverse match at Wanda Metropolitano earlier this season, while they prevailed 2-0 in the comparable matchup the year before. Real Madrid is currently unbeaten at home in the league in 2022/23.
The fact that Atletico hasn’t defeated Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in La Liga since 2016 is a sign of how difficult this game will be for them, although Diego Simeone’s team will be the more rested of the two.
As Atletico was eliminated by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals at the end of January, the Red and Whites are currently out of European competition after a poor Champions League group-stage performance that saw them finish last in their group.
WHERE AND WHEN?
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: 17:30 GMT
TEAM NEWS
Ferland Mendy will be absent from Real Madrid once more due to a hamstring ailment, and Mariano Diaz is also back after a muscle problem that prevented him from travelling to Liverpool.
However, Aurelien Tchouameni has resumed training after overcoming the sickness, and the France international might move back to central midfield for the match on Saturday.
Both David Alaba and Rodrygo sustained injuries against Liverpool, and both have been ruled out of this game. It’s possible that David Alaba’s hamstring injury might keep him out for a month, and Rodrygo could miss up to 10 days due to a gluteal problem.
In terms of Atletico, Thomas Lemar is anticipated to be out due to injury, and Rodrigo de Paul will also be out due to the muscular issue he experienced against Athletic last time out.
Nonetheless, the visitors will benefit from Stefan Savic’s return from suspension, as the seasoned centre-back is expected to start in place of Jose Gimenez.
Simeone is anticipated to make a change in his forward line, with Alvaro Morata, who has had two separate stints at Real Madrid, perhaps replacing Angel Correa to start alongside Griezmann. Pablo Barrios might be the candidate to replace De Paul in the middle.
POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUPS
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Modric, Camavinga, Tchouameni; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Molina, Savic, Hermoso, Reinildo; Llorente, Barrios, Koke, Carrasco; Griezmann, Morata
