Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid predictions: Another draw likely between city rivals
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- Atletico Madrid finished fifth in league phase
- Los Blancos are the Champions League holders
- Recommended bet: Draw
Madrid rivals Real and Atletico go head-to-head in a mouth-watering Champions League last-16 first leg clash at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
The local rivals are locked in a tight three-way battle with Barcelona for LaLiga glory in Spain, but both sides also have major European ambitions this season.
Atletico qualified comfortably for the last-16, finishing fifth in the League Phase, while Real had to come through a blockbuster play-off tie against Manchester City after the defending champions could only manage an 11th-place finish.
Team news
Real and England star Jude Bellingham is suspended for the first leg, while Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos and Jesus Vallejo are all set to miss out for the hosts through injury and Federico Valverde is a major doubt.
Atleti have no fresh reported injury problems, but will again be without Cesar Azpilicueta and Koke for the Bernabeu showdown as they remain on the sidelines.
The stats
Real beat Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, Salzburg and Brest in the league phase, but lost to Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool.
Atletico won six times and lost twice in the first stage – recording victories over RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain, Sparta Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Bayer Leverkusen and Salzburg, while suffering defeats to Benfica and Lille.
The last three meetings between Madrid rivals Real and Atletico have all ended 1-1, while both teams scored 20 goals and conceded 12 in the league phase of the Champions League.
Real have won four of their last five home games in all competitions with only Atleti preventing them from making it five from five when the league clash on February 8 ended all square.
Atletico are on a 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions, although they have drawn three of their last five matches.
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Prediction
Atletico moved two points ahead of Real domestically on Saturday as the LaLiga title race took another twist after the Rojiblancos edged to a 1-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao and Real lost 2-1 at Real Betis.
The visitors should take some confidence from those contrasting weekend results as they prepare to face their city rivals for the third time this season.
Both league meetings between the pair have ended 1-1, most recently only last month when Kylian Mbappe's second-half goal cancelled out Julian Alvarez's opener for the visitors at the Bernabeu, so another tight, tense clash between the Madrid giants looks likely.
Real's Champions League pedigree means the hosts, who won Europe's top competition for a record-extending 15th time in June, are unsurprisingly the favourites to win the first leg.
However, Atleti won six of their eight league phase games and look more than capable of battling to earn another derby draw on Tuesday.
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