Nothing like a good old-fashioned Champions League derby with Atletico.
On May 2nd 2017, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will face each other for the 215th time in the Madrid Derby. This will be the fifth time both teams have faced each other in the Champions League since the 1958/59 season.
Let’s get to the numbers.
109
That is the number of wins that Real Madrid have over Atletico in the derby (in all competitions). Atletico has managed 54 wins, and there have been 52 draws overall. If you were only to take La Liga into account, Los Blancos still have the upper hand with 86 wins, with Atleti picking up 39 wins in 160 matches.
285
Real Madrid have scored that many goals in 86 wins of league play. That’s an average of just over three goals per match. Now if you were to look at just the Ch clashes, Los blancos have scored 10 goals in their f wins. They’ll be looking to add to that total come Tuesday.
9
That is the amount of years (not all in a row) that the Madrid derby did not happen. The first time was between 1929 to 1934 due to Los Colchoneros playing in the second division. Play would also be halted during the Spanish Civil War. The derby would pick up again in the 1939-1940 season. And the final time was when Atletico sat in the second division during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 seasons.
18
The number of goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid derby’s which is enough to be the leading scorer. Though it’s just one over ‘The Blonde Arrow’ — Alfredo Di Stéfano. And I’m sure that CR7 will add to this total, and I’m guessing it’ll be a record that will be hard to break after he moves on.
24
The number of players that have played for both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. The list includes Juanfran (via Osasuna), Santiago Solari, Cabo (1929) just to name a few.
42
No not the answer to life, the universe, or anything of that sort. No, this time 42 is the all time appearances number held by Real Madrid player Francisco Gento in the Madrid derby.
Gento was known as ‘The Gale of the Cantabrian Sea’. He played one season for Racing Santander before signing with Los Blancos. He scored 128 league goals in 425 appearances. He also won 12 league and six European titles while at the club.
35
That’s the number of appearances that Sergio Ramos has had in the Madrid derby. He’s currently tied for fifth with Adelardo Rodríguez and Chendo, but could see a rise to third place with the upcoming Champions League matchup.
Notes/Thoughts
- The last time these two teams met in a semi-final of the Champions League, it was known as the European Cup back in 1958-59. That one finished 2-2 on aggregate and Real Madrid went on to win the playoff in Zaragoza. Of course they’d go on to meet in the Champions League final in 2014 held in Lisbon, netting La Decima.
- Right now it’s Isco’s world and we’re just living in it. It would be foolish not to start him on Tuesday when the first leg kicks off.
- I’d go even as far as to replace Casemiro with Kovacic. It seemed to work well mid-week. You don’t lose anything defensively and you pick up a better passer and a little more offense. One of the things that makes me fearful of Casemiro is his tendency to get sucked out of position and into foolish yellow cards.
- Currently Real Madrid average almost two goals per match, to Atletico’s one when it comes to El Derbi Madrileño.
- Barring anything crazy between now and then, for the first time in six or so weeks, Zizou will be able to field his first choice center backs in Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. Bright side of Ramos’ red card on Wednesday is that it doesn’t carry over to the Champions League. Meaning we’ll have our captain.
- Speaking of Varane. As I noted in the Player Ratings for Deportivo, the 24-year-old Frenchman is dealing with a bit of rust. Hopefully between now and then he can shake off the rust, or it’s going to be a long night at the back for the Frenchman.
- What will Zizou does this weekend against Valencia? He’s already rotated a lot with that Deportivo match — does he rotate again? I expect Ronaldo in the starting XI Saturday - I can’t imagine Zidane sitting him out for two matches in a row.
- While it’s still within the realm of possibility that we could do the double, the odds aren’t quite in our favour. No team has won back to back Champions League titles since it went from the European Cup to the Champions league. Winning the league could prove difficult as we have to rely on a team to drop points to opponents they wouldn’t normally drop points to. Though we do have a game in hand.
So needless to say, it could be an interesting run-in to the end of the season.
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