Cristiano Ronaldo returns for Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
Crisitiano Ronaldo has completed his two-game ban for kicking an
opponent and will look to help Real Madrid - a team which has not
defeated Atletico Madrid in their last five matches.
Madrid: World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo returns for a Real
Madrid side otherwise stricken by injuries and suspensions as they look
to beat Atletico Madrid for the first time in six meetings this season
on Saturday.
Ronaldo completed his two-game ban for kicking out at Cordoba
defender Edimar as the European champions sneaked past Sevilla to open
up a four-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the table on
Wednesday.
However, victory came at a cost as World Cup star James Rodriguez
broke a bone in his right foot that will keep him out for two months,
whilst centre-back Sergio Ramos will also be sidelined due to a
hamstring problem in the coming weeks.
Left-back Marcelo misses out at the Calderon too after his appeal
against his fifth yellow card of the Liga campaign was dismissed on
Thursday.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is short of defensive options with Pepe
also out with a rib injury, but he insisted he has confidence in the
inexperienced pairing of Raphael Varane and Nacho in central defence."
What we lose above all is experience, but sometimes enthusiasm is a
good thing," said Ancelotti."
The two of them (Varane and Nacho) give me a lot of confidence.
Ramos and Pepe are among the best defenders in the world, but I am
not worried."
Atletico have bounced back from their heartbreaking Champions League
final defeat at the hands of Real last season to beat them in the
Spanish Supercup and Copa del Rey over two legs this season, as well as
winning 2-1 at the Bernabeu in La Liga earlier in the campaign.However,
defeat this weekend would see them fall 10 points behind the league
leaders and all but end their defence of the title."
I think it is important because the last games against Atletico
weren't good, so we have to change this bad run," added Ancelotti."
It will be a very difficult game, but we want to do something
different."The motivation is so big for this game being a Madrid derby
we don't need the motivation of leaving Atletico 10 points behind."
In contrast to the visitors, Diego Simeone has a fully-fit squad to
choose from for the first time since November and defender Diego Godin
insisted their desire to beat their cross-city rivals hasn't been
diminished by recent success."
We want to win, we always want to win and even more so against Real
Madrid," said the Uruguayan."
It is a different game and just because we have won the previous
games doesn't mean we will win this one."We need to prepare well,
continue with what we have been doing and that will help us get closer
to the result we want."
Barcelona will be eager to capitalise should Real slip up when they
travel to face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.The Catalans have been in
scintillating form since their last visit to the Basque country ended in
defeat to Real Sociedad at the beginning of January, winning eight games
in a row and scoring 29 goals in the process.
However, they have failed to win in any of their previous three trips
to Bilbao, including a 1-0 defeat on their first visit to the new San
Mames last season.Elsewhere, Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal continue
their fight for the fourth and final Champions League place.
Villarreal have the easiest task on paper when they host relegation
threatened Granada on Saturday.Sevilla make their second trip to the
capital in five days as they travel to Getafe, whilst Valencia are away
to Espanyol on Sunday.Fixtures (all times GMT) |