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Sunday’s Madrid Derby promises to be influential at the La Liga summit, with Barcelona running away from bitter rivals Real Madrid with a chance to potentially move seven points clear this weekend. Neighbors Atletico are two points behind Los Blancos and will relish the chance to potentially overtake Carlo Ancelotti’s men with a win at the Estadio Metropolitano, but a loss could also leave them five points behind their fierce enemies, which would give a significant advantage to both Barca and Real in terms of the title race between the two. Kylian Mbappe has already been ruled out of these will therefore have to wait for his first taste of derby day in the Spanish capital and it is worth noting that the defending champions have been unbeaten for almost a year with their latest defeat against Atleti. Not only is this second against third place, but there is very little between the two sides with only two points and three goals separating them, with the hosts’ defense stronger than the visitors’ back line, although the away attack more powerful is then that of the home team.
We look at three keys for this.
How will Real do without Kylian Mbappé?
There are few positive ways to reverse Mbappe’s absence, but one potential benefit of the French superstar’s time out is the increased minutes Rodrygo and Endrick should get in the coming weeks. Ancelotti is still spoiled for choice in attack and Vini Jr. can even fill his preferred role without having to worry too much about competing on the pitch with Mbappé, given their similar playing styles. Jude Bellingham’s questionable fitness since the start of the season is also something to be aware of for Ancelotti ahead of another long season and an uphill battle to make up any ground on Barca. In that respect, Real could be in favor of returning to what worked so well last campaign as they cannot afford another slow showing, which has been the trend so far as Mbappé takes his time to adapt , despite some respectable numbers individually and collectively.
Will Atleti use Julian Alvarez as super sub?
The Argentina international’s story at Atletico so far is similar to that of his time at Manchester City, with his two goals coming as a substitute and his key minutes not really amounting to much. Antoine Griezmann has remained the team’s creative focal point so far with two goals and three assists to his name, one of which came against Alvarez this week for one of those two goals in a late 1-0 win over Celta Vigo. Marcos Llorente was the main recipient of that creativity with two goals from Griezmann’s hard shot and it fuels the idea that Atleti could be better off in this match if Alvarez came off the bench in the final 30 minutes to see off a tired Real outside. must already take into account the accumulated minutes of their star players.
Atleti’s defense versus Real’s attack
The numbers are very interesting going forward, with Mbappe’s goals being telling as three of his five so far have been penalties, illustrating the true nature of his tricky start to life at Real in La Liga, which may be glossed over because the numbers look quite respectable. If you take those three penalties out of Los Blancos’ total, Real and Atleti’s goal difference is equal and the home side’s stronger defense really starts to count for something more. After conceding two fewer goals so far, if Diego Simeone’s men can keep a modified Real attack at bay, another narrow victory could be on the cards with Mbappe absent and having to return to the line-up last year in favor of Atleti in a match with such high stakes. .