Ladies and gentleman, it’s almost Derby Day! As Real Madrid prepare to host cross town rivals Atletico Madrid from the Santiago Bernabéu Saturday afternoon, here are three things to watch ahead of the huge match between two of La Liga’s best!
Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Antoine Griezmann
Two of the best currently in the world will share the same field on Saturday for an hour and a half. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann have been the two best players on their respective teams, and have competed on and off the field in several competitions.
Ronaldo and Griezmann both were honored on FIFA’s Starting XI after stunning 2016 campaigns, for both club and country. Ronaldo has gotten the upper hand on Antoine in every competition the two have faced off in, with Ronaldo and company winning the club’s eleventh Champion’s League trophy over Atleti, then Ronaldo’s Portuguese side beat Griezmann’s in the Euro 2016 final in extra time.
And in the even in the last derby match, Ronaldo got the better of the French international, scoring a hat-trick in the Vicente Calderón Stadium as Real won 3-0.
Griezmann has scored two goals and added one assist in the last four games for club and country, and putting in good minutes in Atleti’s last two wins over Malaga and Real Sociedad.
Ronaldo has been equally as impressive, if not more, scoring three times, and assisting on three goals for club and country in his last four games.
The two greatest in the world will be looking to get their teams a critical win Saturday, look for both of them to be at their peak form in front of goal.