Even though there‘s still 13 weeks left to La Liga, everyone is keen to crown Barcelona as the champions already. While it may be true that the point difference may be a bit too steep for anyone to catch up, both of the Madrid teams are keen to give it a go: but first, there‘s an important derby to get through.
The two teams have already faced each other this season on October the 4th, which ended in a draw – but this time around it may very well be different. The UK-licensed bookie TonyBet is in strong favour of Real Madrid, who got the odds of 1.76 at a victory against the much more modest 4.75 that Atlético got.
Real Madrid hasn‘t lost a game in La Liga since December, having made it through ten matches without dropping any points. To be fair, three of these meets were draws, but it also included the 10 – 2 victory over Rayo Vallecano, 6 – 0 over Espanyol, plus 5 – 0 and 5 – 1 over Deportivo La Coruña and Sporting Gijón respectively.
Their contender in fact would be on a similar run had they not lost a game to Barcelona on January which interrupted their pretty successful campaign. Granted, they don‘t sport any victories with a point difference akin to that of Real, but they‘re still playing pretty well, which is a given considering they‘re currently 2nd in La Liga.
The one advantage that Atlético can hope for is the very probable absence of Gareth Bale, who seems to be still side-lined for the upcoming meet. However, Real has such players as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to mention just a few, and any way you look at it, it‘s not going to be an easy game.
Despite the fact that currently Atlético sports a higher place in the La Liga table – even though it’s just by a single point difference – this upcoming match looks like it’s about to change that. Real is simply a very tough nut to crack for anyone, and their current form doesn’t promise any weaknesses. It’s going to be a proper clash however, so make sure you don’t miss it!
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andym
Founder and chief editor of La Liga Blog, Andy fell in love with Spanish football after a university placement year in the Costa Del Sol. His favourite Tapas is Albondigas and on Saturday afternoons, Andy can regularly be found trying to emulate his hero Carles Puyol for his amateur football team.