The latest instalment of the Madrid derby will take place at Bernabeu on Saturday evening, with Real Madrid welcoming bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in Spain’s top flight.The home side are currently second in the table, eight points behind division leaders Barcelona, while Atletico occupy fourth position, just four points ahead of fifth-placed Real Betis in the race for the top four.

Real Madrid do not have much room for error in La Liga due to Barcelona’s stunning form, with the reigning champions currently second in the table, eight points behind the division leaders, who will next be in league action away to Almeria on Sunday evening.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side must keep winning and hope that Barcelona slip up, and the home team will enter this match off the back of five straight victories in all competitions, including successes over Al Ahly and Al-Hilal in Morocco earlier this month to win the 2022 Club World Cup.

Real Madrid have also won their last two in the league against Elche and Osasuna, scoring six times and conceding zero, while they recorded a standout victory in the Champions League on Tuesday night, beating Liverpool 5-2 in the first leg of their last-16 affair at Anfield.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised his side for keeping a “cool head” to come from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool 5-2 in a blockbuster midweek Champions League encounter.

Keeping their composure is essential if they’re to make inroads on Barcelona’s eight-point lead at the top of La Liga (LL) though, as they prepare for the 232nd competitive staging of ‘El Derbi Madrileño’ against Atlético Madrid.

Three consecutive clean sheets in LL home games (W2, D1) and no league defeat here since last March (W10, D4) will have Los Blancos fans expecting another strong performance against their city rivals.

They haven’t lost to Atlético at home since February 2016 (W5, D3) and extending that run would be a fitting way to pay tribute to former player, manager, and honorary president Amancio Amaro, who passed away earlier this week.

Manager Diego Simeone described their latest win, a 1-0 success over Athletic Bilbao, as a “huge victory” but he’ll be aware that one goal may not be enough to beat Real and consolidate their bid to finish in the top-four.

With each of their last four LL away games (W2, D1, L1) producing under 2.5 goals though, a closely-fought, low-scoring encounter in the latest instalment of a derby first played in 1906 can’t be ruled out.

Players to watch: After becoming the first Real player to score in six different competitions in one season, a goal here would see Karim Benzema emulate Amancio, who once scored in four consecutive Madrid derby appearances.

The Frenchman has netted in his last three appearances against Atlético while his compatriot, Antoine Griezmann, a veteran of 24 Madrid derbies, scored the winner the last time Atléti won at the Bernabéu.

Hot streak: None of the last nine LL H2Hs produced more than one goal after half-time (Real: W5, D3, L1).

Real Madrid La Liga form:

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Real Madrid form (all competitions):

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Atletico Madrid La Liga form:

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Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

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Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Molina, Savic, Hermoso, Reinildo; Llorente, Barrios, Koke, Carrasco; Griezmann, Morata

Atletico are unbeaten in their last six league matches, winning four of their last five, and they will have been preparing for this game since the clash with Athletic ended. Real Madrid, on the other hand, have had their focus elsewhere in the build-up, which could hand the visitors an advantage.

This is not the same Atletico team from previous years, though, and we are expecting Ancelotti’s side to navigate their way to an important three points this weekend.