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Thứ Tư, 22 tháng 4, 2015

Big Match Feature: Real v Atletico


22 April 2015, 12:09
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Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)

Madrid: WDWWWL

Atlético: WDDWWW

Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid meet for the eighth time since contesting the 2014 Uefa Champions League final, with a place in this season's semifinals at stake.

Madrid's 4-1 win after extra time in Lisbon gave them a record tenth European Cup in the first final in the competition's 59-year history to involve teams from the same city.

This time round, the first leg finished goalless, meaning Atlético are still unbeaten against their neighbours this term.

Previous meetings

Madrid came from behind in last May's final following Diego Godín's 36th-minute header, Sergio Ramos's equaliser not arriving until three minutes into added time. Extra-time goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo – a penalty,his 17th goal of the campaign creating a new record – gave Carlo Ancelotti his third triumph in the competition as a coach.

The line-ups at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on 24 May 2014 were:

Madrid: Casillas, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Coentrão (Marcelo 59), Modric, Khedira (Isco 59), Bale, Di María, Benzema (Morata 79), Ronaldo.

Atlético: Courtois, Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Filipe Luís (Alderweireld 83), Tiago, Raúl García (Sosa 66), Gabi, Koke, Diego Costa (Adrián López 9), Villa.

The teams had met in only one previous European tie, the 1958/59 European Cup semifinal. Madrid edged the home first leg 2-1 before Atlético's 1-0 success in the return. That meant a replay in Zaragoza, where Ferenc Puskás struck the decisive blow to take Madrid into a fourth successive final.

The sides at La Romareda on 13 May 1959 were:

Madrid: Domínguez, Miche, Santamaría, Lesmes, Ruiz, Zárraga, Mateos, Kopa, Di Stéfano, Puskás, Gento.

Atlético: Pazos, Rivilla, Callejo, Mendiondo, Chuzo, Calleja, Miguel, Agustín, Vavá, Peiró, Collar.

The clubs had faced off six times this season before the first leg. Atlético won both Liga games, 2-1 away and 4-0 at home – their biggest victory over their neighbours since 1987 and their first league double over them since 1950/51.

The teams for the Liga match at the Santiago Bernabéu on 13 September 2014 were:

Madrid: Casillas, Arbeloa (Varane 77), Pepe, Ramos, Coentrão, Kroos, Modric, Bale (Isco 72), Rodríguez, Ronaldo, Benzema (Hernández 63).

Atlético: Moyà, Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Siqueira, Raúl García, Gabi (Turan 61), Tiago, Koke, Jiménez (Griezmann 64), Mandžukic (Mario Suárez 78).

Atlético were also triumphant in the Copa del Rey second round (2-0 home, 2-2 away) and the Spanish Super Cup (1-1 away, 1-0 home).

The sides have met in 202 league and cup games, with 103 Madrid wins, 50 for Atlético and 49 draws.

Match background

Real Madrid

In the quarterfinals for the fifth year running – they have won their last four and eight of the last nine – Madrid are trying to become the first team to retain the trophy in the Uefa Champions League era.

The Merengues' 11-match winning home streak in the Uefa Champions League ended when they went down 4-3 at home to FC Schalke 04 in the round of 16 second leg. Ronaldo scored his 77th and 78th goals in Uefa club competition to surpass the record of former Madrid ace Raúl González. Madrid prevailed thanks to their 2-0 success in Germany.

That result curtailed the Blancos' ten-game winning sequence in the tournament, home and away, with just one more victory needed to create a new mark. Moreover, it was their first defeat in 22 Uefa Champions League matches at the Bernabéu – winning 19 – dating back to April 2011, when they lost 2-0 to FC Barcelona in the semifinal first leg.

The holders' previous reverse came in last year's quarterfinal second leg against Borussia Dortmund when they succumbed 2-0 in Germany, Madrid still progressing after a 3-0 first-leg home victory.

Ancelotti can become the first coach to lift the trophy four times. He also guided AC Milan to Uefa Champions League glory in 2003 and 2007 and claimed two European Cups as a player with the Rossoneri, in 1989 and 1990.

Madrid have won all but one of the 22 previous Uefa competition ties in which they earned a first-leg away draw; the sole blemish followed a goalless draw with FC Spartak Moskva in the 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarterfinals, when they crashed 3-1 at home. The other seven Uefa ties where Madrid secured a 0-0 first-leg away draw produced an aggregate triumph for the Merengues.

Madrid's shoot-out record in European competition is W1 L2:

5-6 v FK Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 European Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinals

3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Cup second round

1-3 v FC Bayern München, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League semifinals

Atlético

The Rojiblancos are in the quarterfinals of the European Cup for the seventh time and are seeking a fifth place in the semifinals.

Atlético have won seven and lost five of their 16 European games against fellow Spanish sides – they ousted Barcelona 2-1 on aggregate in last season's quarterfinals.

The Lisbon defeat was Atlético's sole reverse in their last ten European matches against compatriot teams (W5 D4) since a first-leg loss against Villarreal CF in a 2004 Uefa Intertoto Cup final.

The 2014 Liga winners have won five and lost two of their ten Uefa Champions League away games since September 2013. Atlético were felled 1-0 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the round of 16 before prevailing in Madrid by the same score, ultimately advancing 3-2 on penalties.

Atlético have won five of eight Uefa competition ties after a home first-leg draw, including all three where the score was 0-0: against Chelsea FC in last spring's semifinals (3-1 away), Sporting Clube de Portugal in the 2009/10 Uefa Europa League round of 16 (2-2 away) and Galatasaray AS in the 1973/74 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round (1-0 away).

The Leverkusen tie was the first time they had been successful in a Uefa shoot-out. Their record now reads W1 L3:

6-7 v Derby County FC, 1974/75 Uefa Cup second round

1-3 v ACF Fiorentina, 1989/90 Uefa Cup first round

1-3 v Villarreal, 2004 Uefa Intertoto Cup final

3-2 v Leverkusen, 2014/15 Uefa Champions League round of 16

Match facts

Real Madrid

Ramos, Coentrão and Toni Kroos will incur a suspension with their next booking. Marcelo is banned as a result of the yellow card he received in the first leg.

The first leg against Atlético was Madrid's first goalless draw since a Copa del Rey fourth round encounter with CD Olímpic de Xàtiva on 7 December 2013.

Madrid are five games unbeaten since a 2-1 defeat by FC Barcelona on 22 March. They beat Málaga CF 3-1 on Saturday, Ronaldo getting his 50th goal of the season having earlier missed a penalty.

Luka Modric has been ruled out for up to a month having suffered a sprain to the medial collateral ligament of his right knee against Málaga while Gareth Bale limped off in the second minute with a calf problem.

Javier Hernández scored his first Madrid goal at the Santiago Bernabéu as the European champions ran out 3-0 winners against SD Eibar on 11 April.

On 5 April, the Merengues recorded their biggest Liga victory since 1967 when they thrashed Granada CF 9-1 at home.

Against Granada, Ronaldo scored five goals in a match for the first time in his professional career, surpassing the 300-mark for the Uefa Champions League holders in the process. Only Alfredo Di Stéfano and Rául González had previously reached a triple century of strikes for Madrid.

Atlético

Cristian Ansaldi, Gabi, Jesús Gámez, Raúl García and Fernando Torres are all a booking away from a ban. Mario Suárez serves a one-match suspension.

Atlético are ten games unbeaten in all competitions, winning five of them including Saturday's 2-1 success against RC Deportivo La Coruña. The Rojiblancos have kept seven clean sheets in that time.

Jan Oblak has only conceded three goals, two in the 2-2 draw at Málaga CF on 11 April, in seven appearances since replacing the injured Miguel Ángel Moyà 23 minutes into the round of 16 second leg against Leverkusen on 17 March.

Raúl García made his comeback in the first leg from the arm injury he sustained in that victory over Leverkusen.

Griezmann has scored in four of his last five outings, the exception the first-leg draw against Madrid; he scored both against Deportivo at the weekend. His 20-goal Liga tally this season is four better than his previous best set last term while at La Real.

Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid coach

We have to live with the injuries – we have done so in the past. We are without some important players but we couldn't be any more motivated. Atlético are very strong, one of the best teams in the world in defence, so we have to do what we did in the first half at their stadium. [This time] we want to play well from the first minute until the last.

This match shouldn't be more difficult than the last – we are playing at home with the chance of reaching the semifinals. It's an important match for the club, the fans and the players; we have the opportunity to play in another final. The whole squad deserves to play because they are all motivated and in good shape.

I have said many times that in my opinion I have the best squad in the world. It's important to focus on the players who are going to play and not the ones who can't. We have a number of possible solutions to replace the injured players.

This match is so important and we don't need any more motivation. We just have to implement our tactical plan on the pitch like we did in the first leg.

Diego Simeone, Atlético coach

We want to savour and enjoy more nights like these because they don't come around often. There is no pressure on these teams, but there is responsibility. I'm thinking about how we can hurt Real Madrid, not about Luka Modric's injury. We are focused only on ourselves.

[On defensive midfielder Mario Suárez's suspension] We have been doing well at the back of late. We have great players in defensive positions and I have a problem deciding which ones are better suited for each match. We have players who can keep us safe at the back and attack if possible.

Coach and player links

Ancelotti and Diego Simeone crossed paths as players when the former's Milan overcame AC Pisa 1-0 in January 1991.

The pair have locked horns 11 times as coach of their respective Madrid clubs, Simeone winning five of the duels and Ancelotti three with three draws.

Juanfran came through Real Madrid's academy and made six outings for the first team in 2003/04 and 2004/05.

Isco, Asier Illarramendi, Nacho, Dani Carvajal and Koke were part of Spain's victorious 2013 Uefa European Under-21 Championship squad.

International teammates:

Marcelo and Miranda (Brazil);

Ronaldo, Fábio Coentrão, Pepe and Tiago (Portugal);

Raphaël Varane and Antoine Griezmann (France);

Luka Modric and Mario Mandžukic (Croatia);

Juanfran, Koke, Mario Suárez, and Isco, Carvajal, Ramos and Iker Casillas (Spain).

Former club-mates:

Karim Benzema and Tiago (Olympique Lyonnais, 2005–2007);

Illaramendi and Griezmann (Real Sociedad de Fútbol, 2010–2013)

Ronaldo has notched 16 goals in 21 appearances against Atlético, hitting a hat-trick in a 4-1 Liga triumph on 11 April 2012 but being sent off after scoring in Madrid's 2-1 Copa del Rey final reverse in 2012/13.

Ramos has twice been dismissed against Atlético – in a 1-1 Liga draw on 1 October 2006 and during Madrid's 3-2 top-flight victory in November 2009.

Possible line-ups

Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Coentrão; Isco, Illarramendi, Kroos, James; Ronaldo, Hernández.

Out: Marcelo (suspended), Modric (knee), Bale (calf), Benzema (knee)

Atlético: Oblak; Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Siqueira; Arda Turan, Gabi, Tiago, Koke; Griezmann, Mandžukic.

Out: Mario Suárez (suspended)

Doubtful: Mandžukic (ankle)

Source : supersport[dot]com
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