Madrid derby preview: Atletico Madrid players outshine Real Madrid's
Atletico Madrid hold a two-point advantage over Real Madrid heading into Saturday’s derby and they will hope to at least preserve that lead in the race to finish second.
Diego Simeone’s side need to bounce back quickly after suffering just their second league defeat of the campaign last time out to Real Betis. Atletico, however, have the best home record in La Liga this season (29 points) and are the only team in the division yet to taste defeat on their own turf.
Real Madrid will have a spring in their step after holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in midweek, as Santiago Solari’s side have hit their first real moment of form this season. Los Blancos are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions and have won five times in that spell.
Here we take a lot at the top five WhoScored rated players between the two sides, only taking into account those that have started at least 10 league games this season.
5. Thomas Partey (Atletico) – 7.18 rating
Thomas Partey has not always been a first-team regular under Diego Simeone but the Ghana international has been exceptional for Atletico this season, particularly on home soil. In fact, the 25-year-old has the fifth highest WhoScored rating in home league matches in La Liga this season (7.72). In those six appearances, Partey has incredibly weighed in with two goals and three assists. Of players to have attempted at least 20 dribbles in Europe’s top five leagues this season, Partey has the best success rate (92%).
4. Dani Carvajal (Madrid) – 7.19 rating
A series of injury problems really held Dani Carvajal back at the start of the season and the Spanish right-back was sorely missed by Julen Lopetegui, who Madrid sacked in October. This is illustrated by the fact Carvajal is Madrid’s second highest WhoScored rated player in the league this season, though Los Blancos have only managed to get 13 starts out of him in the competition to date. Unsurprisingly, Madrid have a substantially better win ratio in the league when Carvajal has started (69.2%) compared to when he has not featured fro the off (44.4%).
3. Karim Benzema (Madrid) – 7.24 rating
It’s been a testing season for Karim Benzema, shouldered with the responsibility of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo’s sheer number of goals. The 31-year-old has failed in that respect but has hit a real purple patch of form in the last few weeks. Benzema has scored six goals in his last five games, with three of those goals coming in the league. The Madrid No.9 has already doubled his league tally for goals this season (10) compared to last and has a massive part to play in where Madrid will finish in the table this season.
2. Rodrigo (Atletico) – 7.34 rating
Re-signing Rodrigo from Villarreal this past summer was a masterstroke by Atletico. The 22-year-old has made a seamless transition into the Atletico starting XI and has filled the void left by Gabi with consummate ease. Rodrigo is impressively completing 90.2% of his passes in the league this season, while only Nacho (77) has made more tackles than the Spain international (62). Rodrigo was not signed to score, but the defensive midfielder has netted more goals in 19 league games for Atletico (2) than in 63 appearances for Villarreal (1).
1. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico) – 7.35 rating
Antoine Griezmann, who turned down Barcelona last summer, has done exceptionally well for Atletico this season despite leading the line for most of the season without a first-choice partner for most of it. The France international has played a direct hand in 17 goals in 22 league appearances this season (10 goals, seven assists). Not only is Griezmann their main source of goals but he is also their main creative hub. The 27-year-old averages more shots per game (3.3) and key pass game (2.2) than any other Atletico player in the league this season.
