Madrid, Sep 19 (IANS) Atletico Madrid will host city rivals Real Madrid in the first Madrid derby of the La Liga season on Sunday, with both sides looking to head into the international break on a winning note.
Atletico will enter the derby at the Metropolitano Stadium high on confidence after a 3-0 away win over Real Sociedad and a comfortable 4-0 home victory against Osasuna in midweek.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, sit second in the table after securing wins over Rayo Vallecano and Elche in their last two league outings. They defeated Rayo 4-1 before edging past Elche 3-2.
Despite collecting the required results, Real coach Jose Mourinho will be seeking an improved defensive performance from his side, reports Xinhua.
Real conceded 18 shots, including seven on target, against Rayo, while Elche fought back from 0-2 down to level the contest at 2-2 before Carlos Espi’s injury-time winner secured all three points for Mourinho’s side.
Mourinho will also have decisions to make regarding his defensive lineup. Denzel Dumfries is likely to start at right-back ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Marc Cucurella is expected to operate on the left.
Ibrahima Konate, Dean Huijsen and Antonio Rudiger are likely to compete for two central defensive spots.
Kylian Mbappe will be the main attacking threat for Real Madrid, with Jude Bellingham, Yan Diomande and Arda Guler expected to provide support.
Atletico, meanwhile, will look to build on their impressive midweek performance against Osasuna. New signing Jonathan David scored his second goal since joining the club, while Lee Kang-in provided an additional creative threat.
Giuliano Simeone is back in contention and, alongside Ademola Lookman, could offer Atletico pace on the counterattack as well as the defensive work needed to deal with Real’s wide players.
One of the key doubts for Atletico is whether Julian Alvarez will feature in the derby and, if he does, what kind of reception he will receive from the home supporters.
The derby could carry even greater significance depending on Barcelona’s result against Sevilla on Saturday.
Barcelona could move six points clear at the top of the table with a victory. If that happens, the Madrid derby will become even more important, with the losing side heading into the international break at least six points behind the reigning champions, while Atletico could find themselves eight points adrift.
–IANS
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