In likely the biggest match of the league season thus far, Real Madrid will travel across Madrid to face rivals, Atletico Madrid, in this season’s first Madrid Derby. Here are three keys to a Los Blancos win.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema
I have ripped on Karim a lot this season and I have been very frustrated with his lack of finishing in front of goal, but this match is his chance to prove me wrong and come up big for his team when they need him most.
The Real attack has been lacking compared to last season. Going into the Derby a year ago, Los Blancos had scored 31 goals and this year, they have scored just 22.
Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo have combined for just 2 of those 22 as hard as that is to believe. This is a match where they need to have a breakout.
Last season in the Vicente Calderon, we saw CR7 work his magic and score an incredible hat-trick in the 3-0 beatdown of the cross-town rivals.
In the Champions League leg in the Calderon, we saw Benzema pull off a move to set up a crucial Real Madrid goal by Isco that I think we will never see again.
Karim Benzema great assist for Isco Amazing Goal ⚽️❤️⚽️ In Atletico Madrid Vs Real Madrid #ATLRMA #HalaMadrid #Benzema #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/7zyf49hPTK
— FeedNews™ (@FeedNewss) May 10, 2017
One, or both of these guys need to score if Real are to hand Atleti their first loss of the year.