After disposing of Manchester City for the third time in four Champions Leauge campaigns, Real Madrid will face an even more familiar - and dangerous - opponent in the Round of 16 in crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos have been neck-and-neck with the Royal Whites in the LaLiga title race, and both teams recently shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in LaLiga. Truth be told, Real Madrid were outplayed for much of that matchup, and Atleti's combination of stingy defense and devastating counterattacking plays right into Real's biggest weaknesses.
Tuesday's first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu will be a tough matchup without Jude Bellingham available due to suspension, with Fede Valverde potentially out, too. Dani Ceballos is also injured, and if Madrid miss these three midfielders after already losing to Real Betis 2-1, Atleti might not be the underdogs - not even at the Bernabeu.
Here are three matchups that will play a pivotal role in determining the victor of the first leg.
Kylian Mbappe vs. Jose Maria Gimenez
Kylian Mbappe has woken up at Real Madrid after a sharp goal against Atalanta brought out not only the goals out of the proverbial ketchup bottle, but also a much more well-rounded style of play from a young man fully capable of being a Real Madrid archetype 9 when looking at his technical ability and innate feel for the game.
He's been at the heart of everything good over the past couple of months, including a hat trick in a nearly flawless performance against Manchester City to effectively punch Madrid's ticket into the Round of 16.
Mbappe will be going up against a more organized and physically imposing defense in Atletico Madrid, led by the veteran Jose Maria Gimenez. Though there are signs of the Uruguayan slowing down at 30, Gimenez remains one of the most feared center backs in LaLiga and has a knack for bringing his best performances against the big clubs like Real Madrid.
Although Mbappe had a moment of brilliant with the pass to the assist against Betis, it was an overall subdued performance from the Frenchman that ended early. In the aftermath of his tooth extraction, Madridistas must hope that Mbappe is operating at 100 percent, because they aren't advancing to the next round if their best goal-scorer isn't able to get open and take his chances.
Antonio Rudiger vs. Antoine Griezmann
Conceding a penalty as the rotten cherry on top of a rancid sundae, Antonio Rudiger delivered one of at least a handful of disaster-classes against Real Betis at the weekend, as Real Madrid were thoroughly dominated in and out of possession.
And honestly, a lot of that falls on Rudiger. He struggled to move the ball up the pitch for Real Madrid, and he's been letting the team down in that regard in comparison to the standard other Madrid center backs have set over the decades. Off the ball, Rudiger is too aggressive and gets pulled out of position, leading to mistakes like the one that led to Betis's winning penalty goal. One also has to consider his lack of fitness as one of the reasons for the performance.
Against Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid will be facing one of the most intelligent players in European football. Antoine Griezmann can score, make plays, and do the dirty work off the ball to win games. He will both try to harry Rudiger into making mistakes on the ball and then pull Rudiger out of position with his movement to force him into errors off the ball.
Rudiger can't get pulled off his line by Griezmann and then allow the Frenchman to start dinking balls over the top to Samuel Lino, Julian Alvarez, an onrushing center midfielder, or anyone else Atleti will drive towards the box on a counter. Griezmann is capable of ghosting defenders in the box and then embarrassing them with a pull-back or cheeky pass. Rudiger has to be on his "A" game mentally, because Griezmann isn't an opponent, like Erling Haaland, whom he can simply outhustle.
Eduardo Camavinga vs. Rodrigo De Paul
Eduardo Camavinga turned in a strong performance in the win over Real Sociedad but was then unable to provide the team with the spark they needed off the bench against Real Betis. While Camavinga is a very good footballer who has shone brightly on the Champions League stage, even dating back to his first season at the Bernabeu, he's still struggled to impose himself as a superstar-caliber player in Madrid, which is his talent-based trajectory.
Without Dani Ceballos, Jude Bellingham, and potentially Fede Valverde available on Tuesday night, Camavinga is going to have to be a big factor against an Atletico Madrid midfield that is full of engine, physicality, and, yes, quality.
Guys like Rodrigo De Paul have the technical ability to score and create chances while also having the ability to play rough and dominate on the ball defensively or as ball progressors. Camavinga has to make sure Real Madrid don't cede the midfield battle as badly as they did in Seville on Saturday, because he's going to be the main 8 when he's on the pitch, whether that's as a starter or in a 30-minute cameo off the bench.