Atletico has a very solid start to the season. Diego Simeone’s team is clearly setting themselves the most serious challenges in the Spanish championship, with which they have been successfully coping so far. At the moment the “mattress” are in second place in the table of the Spanish championship with 23 points in the asset, being one point behind the leader in the face of Real Sociedad. At the same time, Atl?tico has two more matches in reserve, which certainly makes the team the favorite in the fight for the title today. Real Madrid are fourth so far and have six points less and a match more, while Barcelona are seventh with 14 points. It is these clubs that are the main competitors of the “mattress”. It is unlikely that Real Sociedad will maintain such a pace at a distance. In the Champions League Atletico is less successful. They are second in the group with only five points after four rounds. There is a modest gap of two points from the third Lokomotiv, which does not yet allow making long-term plans. In the last round, Atl?tico had an advantage in the match with Lokomotiv, but could not break through the defense. A goalless draw was a big disappointment for the club.
Real Madrid are having a hard start in their history. Things are not going well so far, both in the Champions League and in the national championship. Last weekend the royal club could not justify the status of the favorite in the match against Betis, losing to the cucumbers at home with a score 1:2. This fight became for Zinedine Zidane’s followers the third in a row in the Primera, in which they could not succeed. Previously there was a draw with Villarreal (1:1) and a defeat to Valencia (1:4). So far, Real is only fourth in the league standings, being seven points behind the leading Barcelona. The series of failures in the championship was diluted by two very important victories just in the Champions League. Madrid started very poorly. Firstly, they sensationally lost to their future rival at the Santiago Bernabeu and then shared points on the road with Borussia M?nchengladbach, ending the match in a 2:2 draw. However, in the confrontation with Inter the Spaniards showed their class. First, they beat the Italians at home with a score 3:2 and then put the squeeze on in Milan with a score 2: 0. It is quite possible that the reason for such instability is the staffing situation in the club. Luka Jovic and Federico Valverde are in the infirmary. Damage has Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard, Sergio Ramos, Daniel Carvajal and lvaro Audriosola. The degree of their readiness will be determined on the day of the match.
