Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid meet again in the Round of 16 of this year’s Copa del Rey, after their recent meeting in the Supercopa de España.
Real Madrid were the victorious side over Atleti, securing the ticket to the Supercopa finals in a thrilling 5-3 extra-time victory in Saudi Arabia last week.
Real Madrid are flying high after getting much-needed victories from their two biggest rivals consecutively to win their first trophy of the year an early exit from the Copa del Rey at this stage is not an option.
Atleti, meanwhile, could desperately use something to savor, and knocking their bitter rivals back a bit would do the trick. They are 11 points off first place, having been denied a spot in the Supercopa final, an early Copa del Rey exit would be a double blow for them.
Both teams who are meeting for the third time this season, topped each other once, with 12 goals evenly split between the two clubs.
At the moment Atleti seems the only team to truly trouble Real Madrid so far this season, Real Madrid may have fallen to their only defeat of the season at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium earlier in the campaign, but before that, Los Blancos were the better side on September of 2022 with a 2-1 scoreline, hanging on for victory on two first-half goals, while Diego Simeone knows how to make life difficult for Carlo Ancelotti at home.
Though, nobody’s expecting another 5-3 extra-time ball, it’s not a surprise these two sides go all out in front of the goal in their recent Spanish Super Cup meeting, and it won’t be a surprise to see more goals scored here.
These two sides no longer play grind-it-out matches as they are currently constructed. Atletico Madrid doesn’t have the players necessary to hold their world-class opposition down; Diego Simeone has rightly referred to keeping up in the attacking third.
