The Madrid derby that Ancelotti needs to win

La Liga

Football
Published: 11/09/2014

Having met most recently in the Spanish Supercopa, with Atletico Madrid coming out on top, another fiery and exciting Madrid derby is surely on the cards again this time around. Although the SuperCopa victory will seem like revenge for Atletico`s Champions League final defeat in Lisbon last season, taking three La Liga points off their huge rivals in their own back yard will definitely taste sweeter.

Atletico Madrid were undefeated against Real Madrid last season and were the only team to shut them out in La Liga, showing that Diego Simeone knows how to set up a team to not only frustrate Real but also beat them. However, the Argentine is currently serving a touchline ban and will be unable to orchestrate his team from the sidelines on Saturday night. Despite having lost some big name players during the summer, Atletico have done well to replace them with good quality individuals and perhaps crucially, have kept their successful central defensive partnership from last season together. With 4 points from their opening two games, Atletico will want to claim all 3 points against their title challengers with 888sport offering odds of 9/2 for that to happen.

Real Madrid will want to bounce back after a very disappointing defeat away to Real Sociedad in their last game, losing the match having raced in to a 2 goal lead. The home fans will settle for nothing less than a win against their local rivals and Carlo Ancelotti will be under huge pressure to take all 3 points from this game. The key factor could be the return to fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo, if he plays then Real Madrid`s chances of victory increase dramatically. Without the Portuguese, things will be tougher yet BetVictor still have them as favourites, available at 8/11 for the win.

The smart money may well be on the draw, william hill are offering 14/5 for their to be nothing between the two teams come the final whistle and this has been the case in three of the last four games between them (at the end of 90 minutes).

Since 2011, there has only been two La Liga matches between Atletico and Real that has finished with 2 goals or less scored, making the 19/20 offered at bet365 for 2.5 or more goals to be scored a good shout. Cristiano Ronaldo is 7/2 with BetVictor to score the first goal but his fitness still remains doubtful, therefore a better option could be the 11/2 offered by ladbrokes on Gareth Bale, especially if he is going to be on free-kick duty. A good outside bet is the 35/1 available at BetVictor for Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin to get on the score sheet first. The Uruguayan defender is a threat from corners and scored against both Real Madrid and Barcelona last season and can also be backed at 16/1 with bet365 to score at any time during the game.

The correct score market throws up some interesting possibilities and with a tight game likely, a 2-1 win for the visitors can be backed at 17/1 with BetVictor.

Go To bet365
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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (11/09/2014) but are subject to change.

11/09/2014     © Frixo 2024

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