It’s the second-leg of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League semi-final as current holders, Real Madrid, make the short trip across Spain’s capital to face Atletico. The hosts have a mountain to climb on their own soil as they were beaten 3-0, courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick, in the first-leg. For any chance of going through at the Vicente Calderon, they’ll need at least 3 unanswered goals. 1 away goal for Real Madrid will mean Atletico need 5 goals.

STATS

• Atletico fell away from Real Madrid and Barcelona a lot earlier in the season which sent their focus solely on the Champions League but they have failed to win both of their last 2 European games against Leicester City and Real Madrid. Their form in La Liga is very average and in their last game they narrowly edged past Eibar 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
• Real Madrid are favourites for both La Liga and the Champions League as they can go top with their game in hand over Barcelona in the league while they have all-but guaranteed their place in the Champions League final. A second string side battered Granada in their last match as their main starters were rested and they came out 4-0 winners.
• Antoine Griezmann is going to be Atletico’s main hope of progression into the Champions League as he has the key to unlock the Real Madrid defence if he plays like we all know he can. To score 3 goals is a huge task and will need a huge team effort.
• Cristiano Ronaldo showed just why he’s considered the greatest player of all time by so many fans across the world as his hat-trick at the Bernabeu in the first-leg handed his side a huge advantage in this tie. One goal from him at the Calderon will almost definitely send Atletico crashing out.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Madrid derby has been extremely close since 2013 as of the 12 games played in all competitions, Atletico have 2 wins with Real slightly ahead with 3. This means they have played out an incredible 7 draws in 4 years and another one won’t be a huge shock in this second-leg.

ATLETICO NEWS

It will need a miracle for Atletico to book themselves a place in this summer’s final in Cardiff but they have scored 3 or more goals on 14 occasions this season in all competitions, which shows they can score the required amount of goals. Without Jose Gimenez and Juanfran in defence, it will be even harder for them to make it through.

Latest matches: Atletico Madrid

06.05.2017	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	SD Eibar	1:0	W
02.05.2017	UEFA	Real Madrid	Atletico Madrid	3:0	L
29.04.2017	LaLi	Las Palmas UD	Atletico Madrid	0:5	W
25.04.2017	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	Villarreal CF	0:1	L
22.04.2017	LaLi	Espanyol Barcelona	Atletico Madrid	0:1	W

REAL MADRID NEWS

It should be a fairly routine victory for Real Madrid but Zinedine Zidane will want his side to score as many goals as possible just to pile the misery on their local rivals. If they get the first goal, the floodgates might open at the Vicente Calderon as Atletico will be forced to throw everyone forward in hope of coming back into the game.

Latest matches: Real Madrid

06.05.2017	LaLi	Granada CF	Real Madrid	0:4	W
02.05.2017	UEFA	Real Madrid	Atletico Madrid	3:0	W
29.04.2017	LaLi	Real Madrid	Valencia CF	2:1	W
26.04.2017	LaLi	Deportivo La Coruna	Real Madrid	2:6	W
23.04.2017	LaLi	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	2:3	L

SUMMING UP!

It will be almost impossible for Atletico to go through against this extremely strong Real Madrid and they will probably even struggle to beat them on the night with a lack of motivation to overturn such a big deficit. Their home fans will be right behind them but it won’t be enough for Diego Simeone’s men as Real Madrid will march on into the final at the end of May.