Top Five Madrid Derbies in Recent Years

Real Madrid travel to the other part of the Spanish capital on Sunday night to take on their fiercest rivals Atletico Madrid. The Madrid derby – as it is known – is one of the roughest derbies on the planet, as temperatures often rise during the course of the match. Madrid must be ready to face a lot of hostility at the Vicente Calderon, and must cope up with the rough style of Atletico’s play. Real Madrid are suffering from many injuries, as they travel to the ground where they were thrashed 4-0 the last time they played in the league. Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez and Marcelo are expected to come back into the squad, but Gareth Bale and Pepe still remain injured. Atletico are also struggling to find form, as they were defeated by Benfica at the Calderon in mid-week. But both teams are expected to up their game for this one. Here we look at top five Madrid derbies in recent years :

October 30, 1999 was the date on which Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first time in 10 years. Real Madrid took the lead through striker Fernando Morientes’ superb header. Roberto Carlos delivered a wonderful cross from a free kick from the left flank and Morientes headed home the opening goal. But Claudio Ranieri’s side came back when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s excellent finish in the bottom right corner levelled the scores at the Bernabeu. Madrid then gave the ball away cheaply inside their own half and Jose Mari took full advantage of it and put Atletico in front. As Madrid pushed hard for the equaliser, Jimmy scored the third with a spectacular drive from outside the box and ensured that Atletico Madrid take three points of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Despite this victory, Atletico were relegated as they managed to register just nine wins in the whole season. Real Madrid finished a disappointing fifth but were able to win the Champions League that season.

A season in which the all whites were dominated by their neighbours, Real Madrid were under huge pressure when they were drawn against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. Atletico were unbeaten in seven straight outings against Real, including the first leg of the quarters. Real desperately needed a win to gain the upper hand on their rivals, and having failed to score in the first leg, their front line was under scrutiny. With Benzema injured, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez led the line for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. A 0-0 draw in the first leg meant that both teams had to score to get a result out of this tie. But the match was going towards extra time, when Ronaldo’s run inside the box was founded by James. Ronaldo selflessly passed the ball to Chicharito, who struck home the winner into an empty net.

Real Madrid were out of the Champions League in the 2012-13 season as they were defeated 4-3 on aggregate by Borussia Dortmund. And having lost the league title to Barcelona by a staggering 15 point margin, the only silverware on which Real had a chance was the Spanish Cup. Real went into the final as favourites as they faced their fiercest rivals and neighbours Atletico Madrid. Blancos took the lead through a superb Cristiano Ronaldo header in just the 14th minute of the game. Mesut Ozil delivered a delightful ball from the corner, and Ronaldo guided the header past Courtois. But as Real Madrid looked in cruise control of the match, some fine work from Radamel Falcao helped Atletico crawl back into the match. Falcao cut through the Madrid defence with a pass to strike partner Diego Costa, whose incisive finish inside the post levelled things up in the 35th minute. The match went into extra time, when Miranda headed home the winner from Koke’s cross. This victory was the first one for Atletico Madrid over Real Madrid in 14 years, as Diego Simeone became one of the most talked-about managers in modern day football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpsgEq_oZVE

Real Madrid were the La Liga leaders at that moment, but the whole team was injury-struck. Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, James Rodriguez and Luka Modric – all of them were missing from the squad listed for the derby. And Atletico Madrid took full advantage of the situation as Real Madrid suffered their heaviest defeat in over four years. Portuguese midfielder Tiago opened the scoring in the 14th minute, as Real Madrid failed to clear a cross. Saul put Atletico in cruise control with a second just four minutes later with a superb overhead kick. Then the new signings Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic scored the third and fourth goals respectively to give Atletico their biggest victory in 27 years over Real Madrid.

This was most thrilling derbies of them all, and that too at the grandest stage of all – the Champions League final. Atletico Madrid were playing in just their second Champions League final after their 1973-74 defeat by Bayern Munich. And as the Red and white stripes were almost set for their first Champions League trophy, Sergio Ramos cancelled Diego Godin’s header in dramatic fashion in the 90+3rd minute of the match. The match went into extra time and Real dominated Atletico after that, scoring three more goals through Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo to win an unprecedented 10th Champions League title – the La Decima.