Atletico Madrid has long had the chance to ruin Real Madrid’s entire season. In the round of 16 of the Champions League, the “mattress makers” meet on Tuesday (04.03.) In the first leg on Real.
The last time that Real Madrid ended a season without Champions League title, championship or Copa del Rey was in 2021. In the premier class, Zinedine Zidane team was eliminated in the semi-finals against Chelsea with Thomas Tuchel, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, in the cup you had failed in the cup and in the championship City rival Atletico had just had to leave the lead.
Real in all three competitions well – but Atletico too
Now the situation in 2025 is (still) not as dramatic as 2021. In the cup, the royal ones narrowly won the semi-final first leg against Real Sociedad and in the league they are “only” third, but only have three points behind FC Barcelona in place or two on the second-placed Atletico. In the Champions League, the round of 16 was reached via the detour of the playoffs against Manchester City. So far as potentially promising. Now on Tuesday it goes into the first leg against the unloved city rival, which completed the group phase as fifth and defeated Bayer Leverkusen, among others.
So there is still a lot of football to play before a Titellose season for Real Madrid could be a really realistic scenario, but that the key to this is largely in the hands of the unloved “mattress maker”, as Atletico is called a very popular red-white-striped sleeping pad in Spain many years ago, is something that the fans of the royal should not like. The prospects for the defending champion are not quite as rosy for various reasons.
Reason number one – the recent past against each other
Real was only able to win one of the last seven meetings – and only after extra time. The two league duels this season ended 1: 1.
Reason number two – the current form
Atletico has lost exactly one competitive game since the end of October. Real lost three in this calendar year alone, including the 1-2 against Betis Seville at the weekend, which meant the crash to third place.
Basic number three – Atletico plays “Atletico -Football” again
When Atletico Madrid celebrated the championship in Real’s last Titellos season 2020/21, the team, which was already trained by Diego Simeone at the time, had the best defensive in the league, conceded only 25 goals in 38. It looked similar in 2014 when the red and white, naturally trained by Diego Simeone, won the championship with only 26 goals. And currently? So far, the eleven of the Argentinian has received 16 goals in 26 games – league tip and a value that, if you calculate it until the end of the season, would even be below the results of the master season. Atletico plays again, as in the best of times, tough, disciplined and unconditional result football. Simeone football.
Atletico’s trainer Diego Simeone.
Reason number four – the fear of the big disgrace
There is a not unrealistic scenario in which Atletico wins the Copa del Rey – the semi -final first leg against Barcelona spectacularly ended 4: 4, Spanish champion and Real Madrid from the Champions League. The first of these three decisions are now in the first and second leg (12.03.) Of the premier class. Not to be the number one in the world is a performance that is barely except for the Real Madrid club and its fans per se. Not even having the top position in your own city would be a moderate disaster at the end of the season.
Reason number five – Bellingham of all people is missing in the first leg
After the strikers Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham is the top scorer of Carlo Ancelotti’s top scorers. But the Englishman is more than that, he is an emotional leader, string puller and man for the important goals on the big stage as in the 3-2 over Manchester City or in the 3-2 over Atalanta Bergamo. When Bellingham had been directly involved in a goal in a Champions League game since moving to the royal in the summer of 2023, Real has not lost the game. In just nine of his 21 missions for Real, he did not achieve a direct goal participation in Europe’s top competition – it promptly set three defeats and two draws.
In the league, the star ensemble lost to Bellingham against Bellingham without the red -locked midfielder at the weekend – and of all things Bellingham is now missing in the first leg against Atletico. This time because of a yellow lock. Not only because of his scorer qualities, but also because of his physique and role as an emotional leader, Bellingham against the uncomfortable Atletico would actually be a key player for the Ancelotti-Elf.
Real is clear at the Champions League duels-so far
Incidentally, what speaks for Real in the two upcoming city duels, among other things, is the balance sheet in Champions League duels. In six games so far, Real won four times, including in the final in 2014, there was also a draw and only a defeat that was not quite as dramatic in the 2017 semi-final secondary, because Real still moved into the final at the time.