Real Madrid, using a optimistic momentum, face Atletico Madrid, presently in a little bit of a stoop, within the Spanish Super Cup semifinal in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, marking the primary of three encounters between the town rivals in lower than a month.
After the Super Cup, Madrid and Atletico will conflict once more on Jan. 18 in spherical 16 of the Copa del Rey after which on Feb. 4 on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium of their second La Liga match of the season.
“I don’t really like playing against Atletico because it’s a very complicated team,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stated Tuesday. “But they probably think the same thing over there. We are two very strong teams, and it’s always a tough matchup for both sides.”
Madrid have received their final 5 video games in all competitions and luxuriate in an unbeaten run of 19 consecutive matches.
Their solely loss this season got here in opposition to Atletico in La Liga, 3-1, on the Metropolitano stadium, the place the Copa’s single-elimination sport will happen subsequent week.
It’s additionally the place Atletico received 20 in a row throughout all competitions to tie a membership report in a streak that ended with a 3-3 draw in opposition to Getafe in La Liga in December.
“For us, it’s exciting to play against Madrid,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone stated. “It’s an amazing rival. We are anxious about it.”
Simeone’s crew went on a powerful run after that dwelling win in opposition to Madrid, advancing to the knockout spherical of the Champions League and getting close to the highest of the La Liga.
But they’ve hit some velocity bumps not too long ago, profitable solely two of their final 5 matches in all competitions.
One of their two latest losses got here at Girona, the second-place crew on the season’s midway level.
The 4-3 defeat dropped Atletico to fifth place, outdoors the Champions League locations.
They sit 10 factors behind the leaders, Madrid.
Atletico and Madrid additionally met within the 2020 ultimate, with Madrid profitable on penalties in what marked the primary time the Super Cup was taken to Saudi Arabia in a profitable multiyear deal for the golf equipment and the Spanish Football Federation.
The Super Cup’s new “final four” format pits collectively the highest two groups within the La Liga final season and the final two Copa del Rey finalists.
The different semifinal will probably be performed Thursday between Barcelona and Osasuna, final season’s runner-up to Madrid within the Copa del Rey.
Atletico ahead Antoine Griezmann enters the sport, tied with Luis Aragones because the membership’s all-time prime scorer with 173 targets.
Madrid stay with out a few of their principal gamers due to long-term accidents, together with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and central defenders Eder Militao and David Alaba.
Young Turkish worldwide Arda Güler debuted in a Copa del Rey match this previous weekend and will have extra minutes in Saudi Arabia.
Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham are set to steer Madrid’s assault.
Titleholders Barcelona
Barcelona beat Madrid in final 12 months’s Super Cup ultimate to win their first title for the reason that arrival of coach Xavi Hernandez and the departure of Lionel Messi.
Xavi’s crew arrives beneath stress at this 12 months’s match after a sequence of lackluster performances that not too long ago drew jeers from its dwelling followers.
The Catalan membership edged fourth-division membership Barbastro 3-2 within the third spherical of the Copa del Rey on Sunday.
They had been coming off hard-fought wins in opposition to last-place Almeria and midtable Las Palmas within the La Liga, and earlier than that, they hadn’t received in three straight video games in all competitions.
Barcelona are third within the La Liga, seven factors behind Madrid and Girona.
Osasuna, the shock Copa finalist final season, additionally arrived on the Super Cup after struggling not too long ago.
They have received solely two of their final 10 matches in all competitions and wanted further time to eradicate lower-division membership Castellon within the third spherical of the Copa on Sunday.
Osasuna are twelfth within the La Liga. They haven’t completed decrease than eleventh since returning to the primary division in 2019.
During the Super Cup, it is going to be the primary time the audio between officers throughout video critiques will probably be made accessible after every match. The process will proceed throughout La Liga matches.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
