This Saturday, April 8th, is the day of the derbies in Europe, as there is at least one high-profile match in each of the big leagues around the continent. Of course, Spain couldn’t be left out, where the city of Madrid will be split in half, as league leaders Real Madrid will be hosting city-rivals Atletico Madrid. Both teams are coming off consecutive wins after the international break, while both teams moved on to the Champions League quarter-finals earlier in March.
Real Madrid (22-2-5) are coming off a juicy match against Leganes on the road, where they won by 4-2. It was a very spectacular first half, where Real Madrid took a 3 goal lead in an 8 minute span (15th, 18th and 23rd minute). However, their opponents stood strong, as they managed to cut Real Madrid’s lead down to one goal by the 34th minute (32nd and 34th). However, Real Madrid scored once again at the start of the second half, and then proceeded to play out the rest of the match. That win came at the back of a 0-3 victory over Alaves at home last weekend, and Real Madrid don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. They are still leading the La Liga with 71 points, just 2 points ahead of Barcelona, but with a match in hand. They have the 2nd best offense with 78 goals and the 3rd best defense with just 30 condeded. They are the only undefeated team at home (12-0-3) where they have the 2nd best offense with 39 goals and the 3rd best defense with just 14 conceded. Despite their overall dominance at the league, Real Madrid were unexpectedly eliminated from the Copa Del Rey, as they fell to Celta by 3-4 on aggregate. Even so, they are still competing at the Champions League, as they overcame Napoli by 2-6 on aggregate, and they are now matched against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the competition. They will be coming into this match with just a couple of absences, as Varane is unavailable, while Coentrao is still listed as questionable to participate.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid (18-5-7) are coming into this match after recording a slim 0-1 victory over Real Sociedad at home. Despite the fact that they gave up possession, Atletico Madrid managed to take the lead at the 28th minute, and they went on to diffuse their opponents’ every attack. That win came at the back of a 2-0 victory over Malaga on the road, as Atletico Madrid have kept 5 clean sheets in their last 6 matches in all competitions. They are sitting at the 3rd spot of the La Liga that grants automatic entrance to the Champions League group stage next season. They have 61 points, 8 points behind Barcelona and 10 points behind their upcoming opponents. They have the 3rd best offense with 55 goals, and the best defense with just 23 conceded. However, Sevilla are sitting just 3 points behind them and could usurp their spot if results go against them. Atletico Madrid have been quite solid on the road so far (7-3-5), where they are undefeated in their last 11 matches in all competitions (6-0-5). They were eliminated from the Copa Del Rey by Barcelona in February, but they managed to move on to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after overcoming Bayer Leverkusen by 2-4 on aggregate. They will be coming into this match with quite a few absences, as Gaitan, Moya and Tiago are unavailable, while Barragan, Gameiro and Vrsaljko are still listed as questionable to participate.