#360debate: Will Atletico Madrid have revenge against Real Madrid?

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  • Atletico take on their rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League.

    Tomorrow’s Champions League quarter-final sees two of the biggest teams in Spain face each other in a repeat of last year’s final in which Real won 4-1.

    Diego Simeone’s side are unbeaten in six games against their city rivals but have their own score to settle following last season’s Lisbon defeat.

    Our #360debate today is: Will Atletico Madrid have revenge against Real Madrid? 

    ANDY WEST, LA LIGA CORRESPONDENT, thinks YES

    Can Fernando Torres strike against Real?

    Already this season, Atletico Madrid have defeated Real Madrid over two legs to lift the Spanish Super Cup. Diego Simeone’s team have also claimed a La Liga double over Carlo Ancelotti’s Galacticos, and knocked them out of the Copa del Rey.

    That’s a total of six Madrid derbies, resulting in Atletico winning four with two draws. There is, therefore, an obvious answer to the question of whether Los Rojiblancos can progress to the Champions League semi-finals at the expense of their local rivals: of course they can.

    Real fans, no doubt, will hark back to their glorious triumph in Lisbon when the teams last met in this competition – the famous night when they finally ended their long wait to claim ‘La Decima’.

    But don’t forget that until Sergio Ramos intervened with a 93rd minute header to force extra time, the trophy was heading to the other side of town.

    It’s also significant that Atletico were missing their key midfield creator, Arda Turan, and that Diego Costa limped off with an injury in the early stages.

    Furthermore, Los Rojiblancos were exhausted for that final, having just emerged from a gruelling (and ultimately successful) La Liga title challenge while Real had their feet up focusing solely on their European quest.

    Last season’s final, consequently, is no guide whatsoever for what might happen this week. Instead, we can examine more recent evidence, which all points towards one thing: another Atletico triumph.

    In addition to their recent dominance over Real, the mental momentum for this tie is firmly in Atletico’s favour.

    Simeone’s men have known for several weeks that, realistically, they are out of the league title race, allowing them to prioritise success on the European stage.

    Real, in contrast, have spent practically all of 2015 in a state of crisis after suffering several setbacks in all competitions, with Ancelotti and his players placed under enormous pressure from which there has been no escape.

    They have everything to lose, and they are going up against a team which has ‘owned’ them this season. Atletico will beat them – again.

    JAMES PIERCY, DEPUTY EDITOR thinks NO

    Madrid will want a repeat of last year's final

    Had this question been asked at the last 16 stage, I would have ultimately had said ‘yes’ but something has changed at Atletico that leans me towards a Madrid victory over the two legs.

    Firstly, there is the obvious advantage of Madrid playing the first leg at the Vicente Calderon before returning to the Bernabeu on April 22. 

    Yes, a repeat of February’s 4-0 league victory for Los Rojiblancos will make it improbable for Madrid to then progress at home but those sort of scorelines simply don’t happen twice in the same season.

    The vast majority of players and managers will tell you that in a two-leg encounter you want to get the away leg out of the way first.

    Secondly, Atletico Madrid remain one of the hardest-working sides in Europe – it’s been the foundation for their success – but what’s been built on top of it is not as impressive as last season’s vintage.

    Since the start of the campaign, Atleti have lost at Olympiakos, Valencia, Sociedad, Barcelona, Celta Vigo and Leverkusen. All but one, maybe two, of those they should be winning.

    There has been a fragility to Diego Simeone’s side. Whether it be the fact Miguel Moya and Jan Oblak are simply not the goalkeepers that Thibaut Courtois is, or that they have looked more vulnerable at the full-back area, Madrid will be confident of goals.

    Atletico are on a strong run of form – unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions – but four of those have been draws and they’ve scored just 10 goals during that period.

    It’s a risky strategy to approach Madrid only looking to contain them. Of course, they have an impressive goal threat but we haven’t seen enough of it since that unbelievable afternoon on February 7.

    Finally we come to Madrid themselves.Granted, this is not a side at the very top of their game and recent history dictates they can almost be considered underdogs.

    But the pieces are beginning to fall into place for Carlo Ancelotti, with Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Pepe returning to fitness. The Italian has a full squad to choose from, he didn’t two months ago. Revenge will be Madrid’s.

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