A derby to take flight or checkmate

Eight points behind the leader, Real Madrid couldn’t take a single false step. The lazy stage that he completed just before the break for the World Cup in Qatar and a particularly steep January climb have put Carlo Ancelotti’s team on the ropes, who, however, have found reasons for optimism.

The injection of confidence that his coup of authority in the Champions League has meant, together with the new disaster carried out by the Catalans in the Europa League, feeds Chamartín the hope that a change of wind will be triggered that will catapult the whites in the tournament regularity and contain the hosts of Xavi Hernández.

But so that the hunt for Barça does not definitively enter the realm of science fiction, Real Madrid needs to continue adding three by three, while it waits for a culé setback that allows it to cut ground before visiting, in the middle of March, the Camp Nou.

“We are going to give all our energy to try to win the League,” said Carlo Ancelotti in the run-up to a match that his team arrived at “with good feelings and good dynamics.” The victories against Elche and Osasuna have strengthened a block that has managed to keep a clean sheet in the three league games it has played at the Santiago Bernabéu since the World Cup break. In fact, the whites have only conceded one goal in the last six games and have gone 319 days without succumbing in their lair among all competitions.

Some records that encourage a squad that saw Alaba and Rodrygo fall injured at Anfield, but that recovers Tchouaméni in the face of a clash in which Vinicius, in the spotlight of the red and white parish, will once again monopolize a good part of the attention, after the new exhibition that he completed against Liverpool. «Players as talented as he usually stop in the game to recover. It’s rare to see a player like that give everything for 90 minutes,” Ancelotti said. The Italian, who confirmed Nacho as a tenant on the left side, will once again hand over the baton to Modric and Kroos as he always does in big events, including that Cup match held a month ago that still stings the mattresses.

The third place, a shot

The 3-1 draw at the end of extra time that resolved the quarterfinal matchup and, especially, the non-expulsion of Ceballos in the 70th minute of a match in which Atlético was then winning 0-1 led to a harsh statement from Miguel Ángel Gil Marín focusing on the Soto Grado arbitration. Simeone opted, instead, to reduce the pressure on Gil Manzano, a referee that the rojiblancos especially dislike and who will face a litmus test at the Bernabéu on especially harsh days for the establishment. “He is a barbaric referee,” said Cholo.

The Argentine is also confident of giving continuity to the good dynamics of his team, which has clearly improved since the return from the competition and is two points behind Real Sociedad in third place. «We have returned with Koke in the middle and we are moving through the game better. We suffered a little more defensively, but we are looking for that balance, “explained Simeone, who will equal Luis Aragonés at the Bernabéu as the coach with the most official appearances in command of the mattress ship.

The latest tests carried out this week suggest that Barrios and Saúl will make their way into the midfield, where Atlético has De Paul and Kondogbia absent due to injury. Marcos Llorente can be the wild card that makes his team more compact in the withdrawal without losing the ability to stretch.

-Probable alignments:

Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Rüdiger, Nacho, Camavinga, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Benzema and Vinicius.

Athletic: Oblak, Nahuel Molina, Savic, Hermoso, Reinildo, Barrios, Koke, Saúl, Marcos Llorente, Griezmann and Carrasco.

Referee: Gil Manzano (Extremadura Committee).

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

TV: Dazn.