Real Madrid – Atletico Madrid (Champions League)
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid meet this Tuesday, at Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid), in a 1st leg match for the UEFA Champions League (Semi‑finals) 2016/17. After beating Valencia on Saturday afternoon, Real Madrid will play again at home where they need to take advantage of the support of their fans and get a good result to be able to play the second hand without pressure. Atletico Madrid arrive here very motivated after an amazing away win against Las Palmas, also on Saturday.
Real Madrid qualified for the semi-finals after a 1-2 away win against Bayern München in the 1st leg and a 4-2 home win in their 2nd leg. They started with a good campaign in the Group Stage, finishing in 2nd place of Group F with 12 points, only 2 points below the 1st place Borussia Dortmund. In the round of 16, 1st leg, they have a 3-1 home win against Napoli and 1-3 away win in the 2nd leg. So far in the competition they have played 10 matches: won 7 and drew 3, scoring 28 goals and conceding just 15 in the process.
At home Real Madrid have played 5 matches: won 4 and drew 1, scoring 16 goals and conceding just 7. So far Cristiano Ronaldo is their leading scorer with 10 goals in this competition. As for La Liga, Real Madrid sit 2nd place with 81 points, same as Barcelona but, with a game in hand.
Making good use of the home advantage, the Merengues will try to win this game using their lethal counter attacks and attacking down the wings. With a hand full of very talented players, mainly Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez and Asensio, Real Madrid will be capable of making the difference, especially at their home ground.
In their last 5 official games, Real Madrid won 4, and lost the other one. This sequence of results started with a 2-3 away win against Sporting Gijón. This result was followed by a 4-2 home win against Bayern München for the Champions League, a 2-3 home loss against Barcelona, a 2-6 away win against Deportivo and a 2-1 home win against Valencia.
Both Pepe and Gareth Bale are out, due to injury.
Probable Lineup: Navas – Carvajal, Ramos, Varane and Marcelo – Casemiro, Kroos and Modric – Isco, Benzema and Ronaldo.
Atletico Madrid qualified for the semi-finals after a 1-0 home win against Leicester in the 1st leg and a 1-1 away draw in their 2nd leg. They started with a good campaign in the Group Stage, finishing as leader of Group D with 3 points above 2nd place Bayern München. In the round of 16,1st leg, they have a 2-4 way win against Leverkusen and 0-0 home draw in the 2nd leg.
So far in the competition they have played 10 matches: won 7, drew 2 and only lost 1, scoring 13 goals and conceding just 5 in the process. Away from their home ground Atletico Madrid have played 5 matches: won 3, drew 1 and lost 1, scoring 7 goals and conceding just 4. So far Griezmann is their leading scorer with 5 goals. As for La Liga, Atletico Madrid sit 3rd place with 10 points less than the leader Barcelona.
This time the enemy is much better organized defensively and offensively and they will have to present a very organized offensive proposal, since they will be playing against a team with fast players like Cristiano and Asensio. The return leg will take place at the Vicente Calderón where they will be playing at home and enjoy the home advantage.
In their last 5 official games, Atletico Madrid won 3, drew 1 and lost the other one. This sequence of results started with a 3-0 home win against Osasuna. This result was followed by a 1-1 away draw against Leicester City for the Champions League, a 0-1 away win against Espanyol, a 0-1home loss against Villarreal and a 0-5 away win against Las Palmas.
Moyá, Vrsaljko and Juanfran are out, due to injury.
Probable Lineup: Oblak – Giménez, Godín, Savic and Luis Felipe – Gaitán, Ñíguez, Gabi and Koke – Griezmann and Gameiro.
Playing with the support of their fans, Real Madrid will enter this game against their neighbours with maximum strength and ready to take some advantage to the 2nd leg. As for Diego Simeone’s men they won’t be an open side.
