Atletico Madrid will hope to avoid Champions League disappointment at the hands of cross town rivals Real for the fourth time in as many years when the two teams lock horns in the second leg of their semifinal at the Vicente Calderon.
This will be the last Madrid derby at the Calderon and also the last European game at the venue, but Atleti face an uphill task to prevent Real from booking their spot in the final at Cardiff after losing 3-0 in the first leg at the Bernabeu last week. The club will be moving to the 67,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano in the summer.
No team in the history of the Champions League has overturned even a two goal deficit in the semifinals, and Atleti’s recent league form doesn’t suggest that they could produce a comeback against Zinedine Zidane’s side, who have gone from strength to strength since their Clasico loss. Real have scored 15 goals in their last four games and conceded just three.
Real beat Granada 4-0
In the last few weeks, Atleti have scraped together 1-0 wins over Espanyol and Eibar, and lost at home to Villarreal. They did score five against Las Palmas, but whether Los Colchoneros will be able to repeat that effort against Real is another matter altogether.
Atleti edge Eibar
After fielding a virtual second string against Granada over the weekend, Real gaffer Zinedine Zidane is likely to field the same XI that took the field in the first leg, with the sole exception being on the right side of defence, where either Danilo or Nacho will deputise for the injured Daniel Carvajal.
Another bit of news that has stoked the flames ahead of the clash is the transfer of highly rated Atleti youngster Theo Hernandez to Real, another indicator that Atleti’s golden age under Simeone is perhaps on the wane.
Atleti lost to Real in the 2014 and 2016 finals and were sent out of the quarterfinals by Los Blancos in 2015. A fourth successive defeat would be hard to stomach for Atleti fans, but with Zinedine Zidane promising to go “full throttle”, few would expect their team to produce the kind of comeback that Barca did against Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the competition.
Real Madrid have scored in their last 60 games in all competitions. A review of William Hill shows us that the British bookmaker currently has Atleti at 16/1 to progress and Real at 1/100. That’s not without good reason- if Real score even once, Atleti will have to score five times to go to Cardiff (something no team’s done against Real this season), and despite the likes of Saul, Torres, Griezmann and Gameiro present in Atleti’s ranks, that will surely be a bridge too far for Simeone’s men. The last time Real did not score was in that away Champions League game at Man City in April last year.
Real Madrid form
Granada 0-4 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 3-0 Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid 2-1 Valencia
Deportivo 2-6 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona
Atletico Madrid form
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Eibar
Real Madrid 3-0 Atletico
Las Palmas 0-5 Atleti
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Villarreal
Espanyol 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Referee is Cuneyt Cakir, who was also the referee for the second leg of Atleti’s semifinal against Bayern last season.