Real Madrid have finally caught up with their title race rivals, in terms of the number of games played in La Liga. The current FIFA Club World Cup champions played their 21st fixture on Wednesday, at home to Sevilla. Goals by the two Rodriguez – James and Jese – enabled Los Blancos to open a four-point gap over second-placed Barcelona and a seven-point gap over defending champions Atletico Madrid.
However, this crucial win came at a huge cost. Marcelo picked his fifth yellow card of the campaign – putting him out of the Madrid Derby unless Real Madrid’s appeal turns out to be successful. On top of that, James sustained an injury on his right foot and will be out for no less than two months. Sergio Ramos also picked up a muscle injury.
Will the absence of these key players be compensated by Cristiano Ronaldo’s return from suspension? The Portuguese attacker has had a rough year 2015, so far, with some blaming his lows on his split with Irina Shayk. Whatever the real reason is, having just turned the mature age of 30 and finished serving the two-match ban he received against Cordoba, CR7 will want to keep his cool at the Calderon and kick-start February with a bang.
Meanwhile, recent clashes between these two Spanish capital based rivals reveal that Atletico have become favourites. The home crowd at the Vicente Calderon will offer the hosts a great boost in confidence but Diego Godin believes that more will be needed to gun down La Liga’s current leaders.
“This week we're working on countering the strengths of Real Madrid,” he revealed during a press conference on Thursday.
“One of them is the counterattack, of course. They play with very fast people at the front, very fast and very precise. We'll try to be very careful, especially when we have possession of the ball because when they steal it, they are the most dangerous in the world.”
A year ago, Atletico Madrid legend Luis Aragones passed away. Expect the club to transform emotion into energy in order to honour the late coach with a win over Los Blancos, this Saturday.
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