Real Madrid will trade tackles with cross-city and La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in 2024-25 Champions League round of 16 matchup today, MySportDab reports.
The rollercoaster fixture will see the two teams take their age-old rivalry once again to the grandest stages of European club football.
While Atletico Madrid have been formidable opponents in La Liga against their more dominant city neighbors, they have struggled in their Champions League meetings.
They have lost the final of the competition twice in 2014 and 2016 to Real Madrid. In 2015 and 2017, they got knocked out again by the defending Champions in quarter-final and semifinal, respectively.
Against the backdrop of consecutive deadlocks against Los Blancos, Atletico Madrid will head into this game hoping to rewrite history.
They will hope to count on their impressive league phase run which saw them edge out Ligue 1 and Bundesliga champions PSG and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.
In contrast, Real Madrid endured a stuttering league phase run in the competition, suffering defeats to Liverpool, Lille, including a shock home loss to AC Milan.
However, it will will not be a smooth sail for the Diego Simeone-led side with their opponents in full confidence after defeating Premier League champions Manchester City in the knockout play-offs.
Potential lineup
Real Madrid will head into thia match with scores of injury challenges. Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, are all set to miss the game due to injuries.
Carlo Ancelotti confirmed is back to grass and has trained with the squad. However, it is yet unclear whether he will be fit to start despite being called up for the match.
Atletico Madrid have most of their first-teamers all available for the clash with Julian Alvarez expected to lead the attack and Oblak returning on goal. Below are the two teams’ potential lineup for the match.
Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Valverde, Rüdiger, Asencio, Mendy; Modrić, Tchouaméni, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior
Atletico Madrid XI: Oblak; Llorente, Giménez, Lenglet, Galán; Simeone, Barrios, De Paul, Lino; Griezmann, Alvarez.
Prediction
It is going to be a tightly-contested match between the two teams. However, Real Madrid will hope to count on their home advantage and edged out the visitors by a narrow margin. We are tipping Real Madrid to win 1-0.
