Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid Preview

Atletico Madrid will look to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash against Real Madrid when they welcome their fierce rivals to the Wanda Metropolitano this Wednesday.

Diego Simeone’s side have it all to do in this second leg tie after losing the first leg 2-1 last week at the Bernabéu. That defeat extended their sequence of winless H2Hs to four (D3, L1) so the pressure is on Atletico as they must win at the very least to force the tie into extra time, with Sunday’s 2-1 La Liga defeat to Getafe hardly ideal preparation.

Los Colchoneros might feel hosting the second leg gives them a good chance as they have only lost one of their last 14 Champions League home games (W9, D4). They are also unbeaten in Champions League knockout fixtures at home since March 1997 (W11, D7).

The hosts have tended to raise their game for recent Madrid derbies too, losing just one of the last seven H2Hs they’ve hosted (W3, D3), though only one of those wins saw them ahead by more than one goal after regulation time.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid will feel they are already in the next round considering they’ve only lost one of their last 22 Champions League ties in which they won the first leg, and they’ve never done so under Carlo Ancelotti (W9). The Italian manager was not getting carried away after the first-leg win. However, he admitted that it should give the 15-time European champions confidence, as might Sunday’s 2-1 league win over Rayo Vallecano.

However, Real Madrid have won only one of their last three competitive away fixtures (D1, L1). Their European form is much more compelling after winning each of their last three away games while scoring exactly three times, which suggests they have the firepower to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the fifth season in a row.