Having just played an eight-goal thriller not more than seven days ago, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are once again set to lock horns, but this time in a Copa del Rey round of 16 match at the Metropolitano Stadium on Thursday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s troops are in red-hot form, they have been on a roll this season, overcoming every opponent that came their way. Los Blancos only lost one match since the start of the ongoing season, which came against Atletico on September 25, 2023, in La Liga.
Prediction
Atletico played their last match on January 10, four days before Real played their last. Simeone’s men are surely well rested but that is not the case with Real Madrid. After playing 120 minutes against Atletico, Los Blancos went on to play another 90 minutes of high-intensity football against Barcelona which they won 4-1. A close encounter is expected, Ancelotti would aim to sit back and hit his opponents on counterattacks tonight.
Prediction: Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid
Team News
Simeone will be content going into the Madrid derby with no major injury at his disposal as only one player, Reinildo, will miss tonight’s encounter as he is away at the AFCON 2023. Other than him, Thomas Lemar, Vitolo and Marcos Paulo are long-term absentees.
Meanwhile, Ancelotti has a lot to think about the starting lineup as due to the thin squad he has, not only he will have to make sure he fields a strong playing XI to continue their journey in the domestic cup, but the Italian will also have to manage the workload of certain players mainly Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Dani Carvajal.
Lineups:
Atletico Madrid (3-5-2): Oblak; Witsel, Gimenez, Hermoso; Llorente, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Lino; Morata, Griezmann.
Real Madrid (4-3-1-2): Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Garcia; Valverde, Camavinga, Tchouameni; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr.
Head-to-Head
The two sides have collided a total of 224 times with Real Madrid emerging winners in 115 matches while Atletico only managed to win 56, and the remaining 53 matches ended in a draw.
