The Spanish capital of Madrid will host one of the biggest fixtures on the soccer calendar this weekend as its two teams, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, come head to head at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday night, with a 9pm CET local time kick-off (3pm ET).
In a heated clash earlier in the season, the game was suspended after objects were thrown at Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The match continued, with Atlético scoring an injury-time equalizer to secure a 1-1 tie.
Now, the teams occupy the top two positions in La Liga, with only one point between them, and three points of advantage ahead of FC Barcelona in third. As such, a win for Atlético at the Bernabéu, which hasn’t happened since 2016, would be enough to see them leapfrog Real Madrid and take top spot.
Unusually for the fixture, Real Madrid has not won this derby in any of the past three meetings, with two draws and a win for Atlético in the Copa del Rey in January 2024. The last four league meetings have also ended with three draws and one Atlético win, as Álvaro Morata scored two against his former club in September 2023.
Real Madrid are battling a number of injury doubts to their team coming into this derby. In addition to long-term injuries to Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão, both Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba have suffered injuries in the past week to leave the defence decimated for Carlo Ancelotti.
In midweek, Real Madrid rested the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Lucas Vázquez, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé for the Copa del Rey victory over Leganés. All four are expected to be available and ready to start, despite managing knocks, and should come into the lineup to take on Atlético Madrid. Another player who could join them is Eduardo Camavinga, who has been upping his recovery after several weeks on the sidelines.
For Atlético Madrid, there is only one absence, but it’s a notable one in that defender Robin Le Normand is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. The return to fitness of José María Giménez means that it won’t be as harmful as some Atleti fans may have feared, but Le Normand has looked impressive in recent weeks after recovering from a head injury suffered in the previous derby in September.
Real Madrid’s expected lineup vs. Atlético Madrid (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vázquez, Aurélien Tchouameni, Raúl Asencio, Fran García; Dani Ceballos, Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham; Vinícius Júnior, Kylian Mbappé and Rodrygo Goes.
Carlo Ancelotti is expected to recall several of his key players who were rested in midweek, meaning that Aurélien Tchouameni should drop back into defence alongside Raúl Asencio in the absence of any other central defenders. Fran García could, notably, start ahead of Ferland Mendy, to reward his recent form.
Atlético Madrid’s expected lineup vs. Real Madrid (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, José María Giménez, Clement Lenglet, Javi Galán; Giuliano Simeone, Pablo Barrios, Rodrigo de Paul, Samuel Lino; Julián Álvarez and Antoine Griezmann.
Diego Simeone is expected to select Samuel Lino ahead of Conor Gallagher on the left wing for Atlético Madrid in the only doubt over the Colchoneros’ selection on Saturday. The likes of Nahuel Molina, Conor Gallagher, Koke, Alexander Sørloth and Ángel Correa are all likely to come into contention off the substitutes’ bench.