Dance derby or reaction
Real Madrid seeks to regain leadership in the Metropolitan against an Atlético that wants to find regularity
MADRID, 17 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid meet this Sunday at the Cívitas Metropolitano (9:00 p.m./Movistar LaLiga) in a new Madrid derby with more than three points at stake, in which the Whites will seek to regain their leadership and maintain their immaculate winning streak and in which the rojiblanco team aspires to charge morale with a victory against the eternal rival to approach European positions.
Seven out of seven is the balance of victories for Carlo Ancelotti’s men at the start of the season, in which they have started in the best way both in LaLiga Santander and in the Champions League. The white team has so far defeated Almería (1-2), Celta (1-4), Espanyol (1-3), Real Betis (2-1) and Mallorca (4-1) in the domestic championship to hoard 15 points that before the start of the day gave him the lead alone.
Now, for the first time since the 1987-88 season, they will seek to win their first six league games and return to the top -a position that FC Barcelona (16) snatched from them on Saturday with their win against Elche-, with a single point to improve. Unlike in the Champions League, where on Wednesday they beat Leipzig (2-0) and where they keep a clean sheet, in the domestic championship they have conceded in all the games played.
The offensive aspect, on the other hand, has not suffered despite Karim Benzema being out due to injury, who will miss the derby. Rodrygo, Fede Valverde, Marco Asensio and, above all, Vinícius, have assumed responsibility for the French striker, although the Brazilian has focused attention in recent weeks for non-sporting reasons.
The dances to celebrate their goals have caused great controversy in recent days. “If he scores a goal and decides to dance… It’s what he has decided to do. Everyone has their way of being and celebrating goals. There would be trouble for sure, it’s the most normal thing,” Koke warned a few days ago. However, it has been the racist comments towards him that have unleashed the unanimous condemnation of the world of football.
Without Benzema, Vinícius will assume the stripes up front along with Rodrygo and Fede Valverde, while Lucas Vázquez will be the other notable absence. Militao will return to the team after overcoming his discomfort, as will Mendy and Kroos, who rested against the Germans, while Tchouaméni, Modric and Carvajal will return to the eleven after being substitutes in the previous league match.
Opposite, Atlético, ranked seventh, needs to win the derby to forget the defeat in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen (2-0), which interrupted a streak of four games without losing and without conceding more than one goal. Time always offers a new opportunity and now he will have the chance to get closer to a lead that has five units.
After beating Valencia (0-1) and drawing with Real Sociedad (1-1), Diego Pablo Simeone’s men showed their best face against RC Celta (4-1); this Sunday, they could link two wins in a row in LaLiga against the Madrid team for the first time since 2015 -after winning 1-0 in May the last derby at the Metropolitano-, although the whites do not lose two consecutive visits in the domestic competition against the colchoneros for 45 years.
“I would have liked to arrive with a victory, but a defeat awakens tension in you,” said ‘Cholo’ about the defeat against the German team. “In derbies it’s important how you arrive, because of confidence and security, but from the moment the game starts it’s a completely new story. Those of us who have played them know that a new movie begins, and that’s why it’s so much fun this game,” he added.
The big news for the locals is the return of Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak after overcoming his back problems, but neither former Madrid player Sergio Reguilón nor Thomas Lemar will arrive on time, while José María Giménez and Stefan Savic are in doubt.
Against the eternal rival, the Portuguese Joao Félix will be indisputable in an attacking line that could do without another former white player, Álvaro Morata, to bet on the Argentine Ángel Correa and the Brazilian Matheus Cunha, with whom the Argentine coach has tested this week.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
MADRID ATHLETIC: Oblak; Philip, Witsel, Reinld; Mill, Coke, Kondogbia, Saul; Joao Felix, Strap and Wedge.
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Tchouaméni, Modric, Kroos; Valverde, Vinicius and Rodrygo.
–REFEREE: Munuera Montero (C.Andaluz).
–STADIUM: Cívitas Metropolitano.
–TIME: 9:00 p.m./Movistar LaLiga.