Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid meet again in the latter stages of the Champions League. Two of their previous three matches in the competition have come in the final but this season they will play over two legs, in the semi-final.
The first leg will see Real Madrid welcome their cross-city rivals to the Santiago Bernabeu, with the second leg to be played next week, at the Vicente Calderon. Real Madrid will be hoping to take a lead with them and a clean sheet.
Zinedine Zidane’s team were forced to settle for second place in their group this season, finishing behind Borussia Dortmund. Three draws, two against Dortmund and one in Poland against Legia Warsaw saw Real Madrid finish on 12 points, 2 behind the Bundesliga outfit.
However, this did not prevent Real Madrid from easing their way through to the semi-final. Napoli were expected to give the defending champions a real test but despite having taken the lead in both matches, the Italians went down 6-2 on aggregate. Many fans thought Bayern Munich would run Real Madrid close and they did, taking the second leg in the Santiago Bernabeu into extra-time before Ronaldo made them pay.
Atletico Madrid topped their group, which included Bayern Munich. Although Diego Simeone’s team lost in Munich, they defeated the German’s on home soil and won their four other matches, which was enough to see them claim top spot.
In the knockout stages, the draw was kind to Atletico Madrid and they faced Bayer Leverkusen and Leicester City. The Round of 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen was all over after the first leg in Germany thanks to a resounding 3-0 win. The tie against Leicester proved more difficult but a crucial away goal in the second leg was enough to seal a 2-1 aggregate win.
Trends show, despite a good all-round home record this season, Real Madrid have not had things all their own way recently. A draw against Atletico Madrid in La Liga was quickly followed by a 3-2 defeat to bitter rivals Barcelona. They also struggled to get over the line on the weekend, needing a late goal to defeat Valencia.
Atletico Madrid recorded a resounding 5-0 victory over Las Palmas on the weekend, which made up for their 1-0 mid-week defeat to Villarreal. Simeone’s team are undefeated in their last fifteen away games in all competitions, which is a tremendous record and one they will be hoping to extend on Tuesday night.
Zidane will have to make do without Gareth Bale and Pepe but it’s Simeone who has the bigger concerns. With Juanfran, Jose Gimenez and Sime Vrsaljko all out, Atletico Madrid are without a recognised right-back for the game.
With defensive selection problems, Simeone will be looking to his forward players for inspiration in this game. Atletico have scored in fourteen of their last fifteen away matches in all competitions and will be confident of getting an away goal.
However, Real Madrid have scored in every home match they have played in 2015/16 and with Atletico’s defensive problems, they will expect to continue that trend. Real Madrid may head to the second leg with the advantage but Atletico will score what could be a crucial away goal, leaving the tie in the balance.