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Breaking Atletico Madrid’s recent stranglehold on a fixture that used to be a foregone conclusion for Real Madrid is the challenge facing coach Zinedine Zidane ahead of Saturday’s Madrid derby, the last at the Vicente Calderon stadium.
Real enjoyed utter domination over their rivals for 14 years but the tables have turned and they have not won a league derby since Jose Mourinho oversaw a 2-1 win at the Calderon in 2013.
Atletico have won four and drawn two of the last six league derbies, just one demonstration of how charismatic Argentine coach Diego Simeone has transformed the fortunes of the sleeping giant he took over in December 2011.
Real still have the upper hand on their neighbours in European competition and Saturday’s game is the first meeting between the teams since Real’s penalty shootout victory in the Champions League final last May.
The game takes on extra significance for being the last league derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium with Atletico due to move from the 50-year-old ground to a new 67 000 capacity arena next year.
The game will have plenty of significance in the title race. Real top the La Liga standings on 27 points, two above Barcelona in second and six clear of Atletico in fourth.
A Real victory would stretch their advantage over their city rivals to nine points and severely dent Atletico’s hopes of repeating their La Liga triumph of 2014.
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