Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid: La Liga Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Real Madrid will host Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday night in the latest Madrid derby. The two teams will compete for first place in Spain's La Liga.

Real Madrid is in first place in La Liga, but they only have a one-point advantage over second-place Atletico. Under Diego Simeone's leadership, Atletico is still in the championship hunt with 18 games remaining.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Though they haven't exactly been firing so far this season, Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid are now undefeated in La Liga, have advanced to the Copa del Rey semifinals, and are gearing up for a Champions League knockout match against Manchester City.

Gonzalo Garcia scored his first goal for the club in a 3-2 shootout win over Leganes on Wednesday evening, securing a place in the cup semifinals for Ancelotti's squad. Next week, they will travel to the Etihad Stadium to play Man City in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.

The capital heavyweights are one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid in La Liga, so Los Blancos must keep their focus. Last weekend, they were shocked by a 1-0 loss to struggling Espanyol.

Real Madrid leads the league with four points, just behind third-place Barcelona in an intriguing championship fight. However, Los Blancos have already lost a significant home match this season, losing by four goals to Barcelona in October.

Real Madrid and Atletico's most recent league encounters have ended in a draw. Real Madrid's September meeting at Wanda Metropolitano and Atletico's league match at Bernabeu last season ended in a draw.

Many people didn't see Atletico Madrid as serious championship contenders this season, but the Red and Whites have had a fantastic campaign so far, making it to the semifinals of both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

On Tuesday night, Simeone's squad thrashed Getafe 5-0 to secure a position in the cup quarterfinals. Last weekend, they beat Mallorca 2-0 to gain 48 points in La Liga, with a record of 14 wins, six draws, and two losses from 22 matches.

This season, Atletico has accumulated 18 points on the road. Real Madrid, on the other hand, has won nine of its ten league matches played at Bernabeu during the 2024–25 season.

The Red and Whites need to win these matches if they want to be considered championship contenders; they have won La Liga eleven times, with their most recent victory coming in 2020-21.

However, Simeone's Atletico have not won a La Liga match at Bernabeu since February 2016, despite being 4-0 in their previous six league encounters against Real Madrid.

Real Madrid x Atletico Madrid Team News

If Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Lucas Vazquez, and Eduardo Camavinga were available for the Madrid derby, it would provide Real Madrid with a much-needed fitness boost.

Ancelotti has hinted that all four players would play this weekend, even though Mbappe, Bellingham, and Vazquez were all benched against Leganes owing to minor difficulties. At the same time, Camavinga was not quite ready to return from a hamstring ailment.

The club will be without Antonio Rudiger for several weeks as he has a thigh injury. Meanwhile, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal will be out for an extended period with significant knee problems.

After missing almost a year due to a knee injury, Real Madrid is anticipated to start Raul Asencio and Aurelien Tchouameni in the center of defense for the Madrid derby, albeit David Alaba is now available.

While Atletico are without Robin Le Normand due to suspension, the away team is in fine form overall, with Pablo Barrios returning to training after a recent setback.

Julian Alvarez (16 goals in 2024–25) and Antoine Griezmann (15 goals) will start up front for Atletico on Saturday, with Alexander Sorloth sitting on the bench. Sorloth has scored 11 goals for Atletico this season.

Jan Oblak will start in goal again at Bernabeu, while Clement Lenglet, Marcos Llorente, and Conor Gallagher will all make debuts from the starting lineup that played in the Copa del Rey last time out.

Our predictions

Full-time draw @ 3.80 on Sky247.ng

Three of the last four league games between the two teams, including the previous two at Bernabeu, have ended in a 1-1 tie. Therefore, we've decided to settle on that result. The match is close. Although Real Madrid will be playing at home on Saturday, we are having trouble picking a losing outcome for Simeone's squad due to the seriousness of this Atletico team.

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