For over 50 years, Atletico Madrid have hosted Real Madrid at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, but this could be the very last derby to be held there, as the Rojiblancos are moving to a new stadium at the end of the year. Diego Simeone will look to lift Atleti to their tenth victory at home against Los Blancos since the Calderon's opening, though both sides will now be dealing with injuries and key absences. Nine wins out of 48 matches is a poor omen for the home side, though few can argue against Simeone having changed the mentality of the last few derbies, meaning it could be another type of match altogether. April 16, 1967 is when the first Madrid derby took place at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, ending in a 2-2 draw.
It wasn't until the 1969/70 season that Atleti recorded their first win against Madrid there in a dominant 3-0 performance.Waving goodbye to the Estadio Metropolitano in 1966, Atleti scooped the league title by one point over local rivals Real Madrid, who were left to settle for a sixth European Cup crown. In their last bout at the ground, a 1-1 draw took place before the Estadio Vicente Calderon's first derby experience ended 2-2. Adelardo Rodriguez scored late on to steal a point on that day, but it wasn't enough to prevent Los Blancos from regaining LaLiga, already title victors when they travelled to Atleti on the penultimate day of the season with Los Rojiblancos finishing fourth. Now Atletico once again face their last derby in their home for the past 49 years, with the familiar feeling of chasing a table-topping Real on the agenda this Saturday.Simeone won't have to do much motivating from the sidelines for once, because the Madrid derby already has a dimension of its own, and also because the Atletico squad already know what it is like to score and beat their city neighbours.
It wasn't until the 1969/70 season that Atleti recorded their first win against Madrid there in a dominant 3-0 performance.Waving goodbye to the Estadio Metropolitano in 1966, Atleti scooped the league title by one point over local rivals Real Madrid, who were left to settle for a sixth European Cup crown. In their last bout at the ground, a 1-1 draw took place before the Estadio Vicente Calderon's first derby experience ended 2-2. Adelardo Rodriguez scored late on to steal a point on that day, but it wasn't enough to prevent Los Blancos from regaining LaLiga, already title victors when they travelled to Atleti on the penultimate day of the season with Los Rojiblancos finishing fourth. Now Atletico once again face their last derby in their home for the past 49 years, with the familiar feeling of chasing a table-topping Real on the agenda this Saturday.Simeone won't have to do much motivating from the sidelines for once, because the Madrid derby already has a dimension of its own, and also because the Atletico squad already know what it is like to score and beat their city neighbours.
While Fernando Torres leads the way, his aren't the only goals that have sunk Los Blancos, with nine others from the current Atleti team joining him in having scored at least one goal against Real Madrid. Juanfran is also a part of the list, but his goal against Real took place when the defender was plying his trade with Osasuna, not in a derby. Without a doubt, the most memorable goal of them all was Saul Niguez's bicycle kick, which came to represent a lot of different things to the coach, players, supporters and, not least, to himself. The last victory at the Estadio Vicente Calderon against Real for the Rojiblancos was a 4-0 victory, with Koke's goal a source of pride. Antoine Griezmann, Saul and Tiago also added goals on the day. Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez have added headers of their own, and Gabi too has struck from midfield, which means Keylor Navas will have a lot of threats to deal with if he is to keep that elusive clean sheet come Saturday night.
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