Real Madrid fans may be thinking about getting back to the old flag: it's a decent derby. At the Bernabeu 10 years ago, they used this rhetoric to taunt Atletico, but the results exceeded their expectations, and in the next 10 years, Atletico won two league titles, while Real Madrid won only three league titles. Real Madrid also tied atletico in the Champions League finals of 2014 and 2016, although they eventually won extra time and penalty shootouts respectively, expanding their legendary status in Europe.
Atletico will be in tonight's derby as defending champions, but for the first time since the championship flag was unfurled, Real Madrid easily became Spain's most dominant team and seemed to have no formidable opponents. Real Madrid's fatal blow to Atletico tonight proved it, and so did the title fight in La Liga. So far this season, Ancelotti's side are far ahead of the others and if they beat Atletico they will be far ahead. Winnie Hughes Jr. has won the Player of the Month award several times and is a key figure in Real Madrid's jump to the top of the table. If he and the returning Benzema can beat Atletico, they will lead by 13 points after 17 games.
Although the gap between Sevilla and Real Betis is not large, no one believes they have the ability to follow through. The former last won the league title in 1946 and the latter in 1935. Real Madrid's nemesis Barca are now in 7th place, and even if they beat Osasuna tonight, barca will still be 16 points behind at the top of the table if Real Madrid beat Atletico. The huge differences between the two champions contenders have been exposed in the Champions League. After being defeated by small team Sharif in the first match, Real Madrid advanced to 1st place in Group D with a five-game winning streak.
Ancelotti's men have been out of control ever since, beating Barca at Camp Nou and winning nine straight in all competitions. They are currently the only Spanish team that can compete with Europe's elite. "We're going to score 3 points and I don't want to put more pressure on this game," Ancelotti said, although he can't deny Real Madrid's current advantage. 'So far we have proven that we are doing better than other teams.
In contrast, Atletico barely advanced to the round of 16, and although they have enough resources, Sushin, Felix, Griezmann, Carrasco and so on, they have technical, talented attackers, but their league season is dangerous. In addition, Sevilla were in an awkward position in the group stage that should have won, trailing Lille and Salzburg to the Europa League, while Barca will make their debut in the Europa League, scoring just two goals in the group stage of the Champions League, Barca are in a bad situation and they may prefer Real Madrid to win the derby so they have a better chance of catching up with Atletico in the top 4 of La Liga.
However, anyone interested in La Liga wants Simeone's team to have good results to compete for the title, even if they can't score goals. Simeone said: "We always watch the game from pitch to pitch and that never changes, they know we're competitive and we're not going to let them win games easily. "The only hope for Real Madrid opponents is that Ancelotti can't rotate the starting line-up very often, so they may be exhausted in the coming months. To do this, La Liga teams must maintain a high level so that Atletico have a chance.