Puta Madrid vs. Atlético: Revenge NOW

By: Al | March 6th, 2009

The title race between Real and Barca is in Atlético’s hands.

Real Madrid on fire vs. Atlético Madrid on fire. Who will edge out the other in this match? Consider the fact that Atlético just defeated the best team in the world after being plummeted by 3 goals. On paper, Real should win by 3-0 or some crazy scoreline. However, it’s still a derby, and Atlético is still flying high after defeating Barca (can’t get tired of that loss). Real may be itching to travel to Anfield on Wednesday, and Atlético may be itching to play at the Dragao, but pride is at stake here. The three points will come later.

Also consider that Real Madrid has been undefeated in the Liga since losing El Clasico in December. That’s fan-freaking-tastic and RMad’s streak has been so good that they’re only 4 points from Barcelona, and don’t have the impossible task of being able to catch up. They dealt with a similar situation during Capello’s time at the club two seasons ago, and ended up winning the League.

Nine seasons ago was the last time Atlético defeat Real at the Bernabeu, a 1-3 victory. It was also the last time that they have defeated them at all. Real has smashed Atlético countless times since then, and the best result that we’ve had against them was the double 1-1 matches from 06/07 during the Fernando Torres powered Atleti era.

The last derby ended 1-2 to the bad guys. It was probably one of the most depressing matches of the season. In the opening moments of the match, Van Nistelrooy scored a cracker and it took until the near-end of the match for Simao to equalize, which was eventually cancelled out by a penalty. It was cheap, but they won.

Technically, Atlético fans should be scared of a team that they haven’t defeated in ten years, but that’s never the case. If there’s anyone that hates Real Madrid the most, it’s Atletico fans. Sorry Barca fans, but you’ve got nothing on us. From the moment Atleti fans begin to bleed the colors, everything and anything white is a disease. The Madrid players’ names are taken in vein and those more fortunate to grow up as colchoneros don’t even have merengue friends.

Real Mandril

(For those non-Spanish speakers, a “mandril” is a baboon)

I’ll take a gulp and admit it… Real Madrid is unstoppable. It’s as simple as that. In the Liga, I can honestly say that they are now scarier than Barcelona is. Barca might have won by crazy scorelines and may have a goal differential in the 50’s, but they’ve been slipping and Real Madrid hasn’t. As Madrid may be as good as out of the Champions League (Liverpool absolutely won’t be eliminated from the CL yet) they’ll focus everything on the Liga starting next weekend. In the past two years, focusing only on the league resulted in winning the league. It’s part of Madrid tradition to play consistent football and accomplish crazy comebacks. When you have a Barca squad playing in 3 competitions, there are slips that can happen which was just proved in the past few weeks, and then you have a Real Madrid team with a mind set on the league, who seems to be the scariest?

Even scarier is Raul. I single him out because the man is truly the man the Anti-Madridistas love to hate. He always effin’ scores and every time that he points to the “7″ on the back of his shirt with his thumbs, I want to teleport to the pitch just to sock him in the face. He has no problem in scoring against his former club (he is well known for being once an Atlético youth player, and his father is said to be a rojiblanco). Since Van the (Wo)Man is done for the season, this is the man to watch out for. As always, he’s scoring by the bundles. The symbol of Madrid and the symbol of Madrid hatred, ladies and gentlemen.

Also watch out for:

-Guti’s pink dress, and maybe his set piece prowess
-Sergio Ramos’ crazy runs up the field
-Higuain’s finishing abilities
-Sneijder’s crazy-accurate shooting
-Robben’s shiny head, and speed

Down with the Raul

Real Madrid have scored 22 goals in 11 league matches since Ramos took over. If you don’t know your basic math, that’s 2 goals per match. It’s scary how good they are at home, and the best example of that was the Betis match two weekends ago, where they were winning 6-1 by half time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they shocked us with an early goal, something that happens a little too often in the past years (Ronaldo, Raul, Van Nistelrooy).

Atlético

Atlético can win this match. If they can defeat Barca, they can beat Madrid. It takes a real team to plummet the best team in the world, and Atlético is looking to give another favor, this time to Barca. Ever since our hopes for the Liga title were shot down (many months ago), our objective was simply to remain in the top spots for the Champions League. A feasible task that isn’t so feasible, as many dissappointing draws and losses have brought us down.

Now… we have the Champions League and something else to focus on. That something else is the fate of the La Liga winner. “With just this match, Al?” you may ask, and I’ll just say “yes”. From our win last weekend, Barca’s lead was cut down to 4 points and half of their fans flipped a shit and the other half calmed the other half down.

Some what-if scenarios:

If we win this match, Barca will be 7 points ahead of Madrid (assuming they defeat Bilbao at home) and will probably resume their crazy domination of the League. Real Madrid will feel the shock from both losing points and losing to Atlético and will have a mountain to climb. That mountain is hoping that Barca slip.

If we lose, the title race will remain at 4 points. Barca will think “oh man they’re still 4 points away, get em away!” and Madrid will think “4 points is nothing, we’re coming for you, Barca” and hell will break loose.

Roster:

PORTEROS
1 Coupet.
25 Leo Franco.

DEFENSAS
3 Antonio López.
4 Pernía.
5 Heitinga.
17 Ujfalusi.
21 Perea.
22 Pablo Ibáñez.

CENTROCAMPISTAS
11 Maxi Rodríguez.
12 Paulo Assunção.
16 Éver Banega.
18 Maniche.
19 Miguel de las Cuevas.
20 Simão.
24 Ignacio Camacho.

DELANTEROS
7 Forlán.
10 Kun Agüero.
14 Sinama-Pongolle

Prediction: Madrid victory. I only say this because I predicted a Barca victory in my last preview, and we ended up winning. Madrid is too solid of a team and our team has a problem with showing up at the right moments. Despite each teams’ forms, I’d say that Atletico is the hungriest of the two, and if they can shock Real then Liga chaos will ensue.

I never get tired of this video, even though I posted it before. If you don’t know Spanish, it won’t be hard to follow along:

The city will be split tomorrow. The Madridistas and the Colchoneros will be at it.

And something funny I noticed in Marca this morning:

Asking Ujfalusi about his resemblence to Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean, the central defender said: “They tell me all the time and I’m not bothered by the resemblence”.

FORZA ATLETI!