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5 important match-ups for Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

By Atharva Khadilkar

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Federico Valverde of Real Madrid tackles Alvaro Morata of Atletico Madrid which results in the red card being shown to Federico Valverde of Real Madrid during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Federico Valverde of Real Madrid tackles Alvaro Morata of Atletico Madrid which results in the red card being shown to Federico Valverde of Real Madrid during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid’s Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde (L) vies with Atletico Madrid’s Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey during the Spanish league football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid CF at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on September 28, 2019. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)
Real Madrid’s Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde (L) vies with Atletico Madrid’s Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey during the Spanish league football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid CF at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on September 28, 2019. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images) /

Real Madrid will look to get three points against Atletico Madrid to maintain their slender lead at the summit of La Liga this weekend.

Real Madrid welcome Atletico Madrid in their third Madrid Derby of the season. So far, there’s been one draw and one win in favour of the Whites, but there have been some superb duels through those two matches that exceeded 200 minutes of football. What’s certain is that there won’t be any shortage in the one on Saturday either.

Unfortunately, the Whites will be without Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale in the frontline whereas even Rodrygo misses out due to a technical decision. Atletico Madrid on the other hand have to cope with the absences of Joao Felix and Diego Costa, who are definitely a pair that would’ve caused a stir in Madrid’s defence if it weren’t for their unavailability.

Nevertheless, here are five crucial matchups in this important derby.

Federico Valverde vs Thomas Partey

In what promises to be a physical and rough affair, Federico Valverde and Thomas Partey will have to play crucial roles for their respective sides. While the Uruguayan is a proper box-to-box midfielder, Thomas is something similar but not exactly on the same as his Real Madrid counterpart. Nevertheless, the two will need to deal with each other several times.

Federico Valverde will need to be careful of Thomas’ constant tactical fouling as he carries the ball forward and hope to win free-kicks in advanced positions. He will even need to do his defensive bit well in order to cater to the Ghana international’s threats though they are not so much with the Atletico player in position of the ball.

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