One of the biggest derbies in world football takes place this weekend. It is the battle of Madrid as Atletico host Real Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Real has picked up where they left off last season. The Spanish and European champions currently sit atop the La Liga standings. It looks like it will be a battle between Real and Barca, yet again, to be crowned the Spanish champions. Their city rivals have not had the best start to the season. They currently sit in seventh place, and come into this match off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid FYIs
Kickoff: Sun. Sept. 18, 1230pm Estadio Metropolitano
Team News: Real Madrid Atlético Madrid
Starting XI Predictions: Real Madrid Atlético Madrid
After Extra Time Pod: Spotify Apple
Form Guide: Real Madrid WWWWW Atlético Madrid WDWLD
La Liga Standing: Real Madrid 1st, 15 pts Atlético Madrid 10 pts, 7th
Google Result Probability Atlético Madrid 42% Draw 28% Atlético Madrid 30%
Team News
Atletico Madrid is amid a bit of an injury crisis heading into the El Derbi Madrileño. Diego Simeone could be missing up to five first-team stars.
Defensive trio Stefan Savic, Jose Gimenez, and new signing Sergio Reguilón will all definitely miss this match. Savic will miss out with a back injury and Gimenez misses out due to a hamstring strain. Neither of them is due to be back until early October.
Sergio Reguilón is suffering from a hernia and he isn’t due back until later this month.
Star goalkeeper Jan Oblak is a slight concern after injuring his thigh against Real Sociedad earlier this month. The word from Los Rojiblancos camp suggests he will be fit to play, but he will need to pass a late fitness test.
Elsewhere there are question marks surrounding the fitness of Thomas Lemar, as well. The winger is suffering from a muscle injury. He didn’t make the traveling squad to Germany for the Champions League clash against Bayer Leverkusen and is unlikely to recover in time for the derby this weekend.
Stuey’s Two Cents
This match is the talk of the town in Madrid, as you could imagine. This will be a fascinating battle between Real Madrid gaffer Carlo Ancelotti and Atleti boss Diego Simeone. Unfortunately, both sides are struggling with injuries at the moment, which robs the fixture of that little bit of star power. Both of these squads go deep though, and with a lack of blockbusters in the Premier League this weekend, this could be the perfect replacement in your weekend viewing schedule.
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He also co-hosts the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.