Atletico and Real Madrid face off in a literally mouthwatering clash on Saturday. The clash between these two titans have always been an occasion for the recklessness to go up another notch, and it quite often comes to the point where it becomes unbearable, from a neutral’s perspective.
That, however, has never given a reason for fans to stop watching the two Spanish giants go at it. Personally, I think that the football that is played when Atleti and Real face off is unlike any other that we see throughout the season. Be it Manchester United against City, Liverpool against Everton, or the Milan derby, the sheer quality of the Madrid derby is unmatched in this world. The moments of genius we’ve seen in the clash between these two rivals in the recent seasons are clear evidence of their unparalleled level of brilliance.
This is mainly because as the other clubs mentioned above have mostly faded out in terms of strength and depth and overall quality in their squad, both Real Madrid and Atletico, especially Atletico, have gotten stronger and better over the years, and kept a level of consistency throughout the seasons, creditable to the magisterial managers that these two clubs have had the opportunity to hire over the years.
Recent form suggests that we will see somewhat of an equality in performance from both sides as both Real and Atleti have tied in their last game in La Liga, though under slightly different circumstances. Atleti drew in their game against Villareal last weekend, and then they drew again in Europe, in their Champions League away game at PSV.
Similarly, on the back of a 2-0 away win at Roma, Real were expecting to finally get a winning run going under Zidane. It seems that every time they plan to do so, though, that they come up against a difficult away team. Last weekend, it was Malaga, who, against Real, have a phenomenal home record. So, somewhat expectedly, Real had plenty of chances, even a penalty which Ronaldo missed, but they drew 1-1 with their lucky slayer.
Tomorrow’s contest looks set to be even more competitive than normal as both teams are under immense pressure to prove that they are genuine title contenders. Neither has impressed against a top four side in the league and if they play out a tie tomorrow, Barça will be even farther away and uncatchable.
