When Jan Oblak watched Cristiano Ronaldo's deft header fly into his far corner for what was effectively a consolation in the 2014/15 Copa del Rey, he would have bitten your hand off if offered that as his only goal conceded to the winger. And yet, that's how it's turned out in seven encounters between the mercurial Real Madrid attacker and the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper, who's kept out Ronaldo in normal time on six occasions ahead of this weekend's first derby of the season. That Copa double-header, which Atleti won 4-2 on aggregate, is added to by two LaLiga games where only Karim Benzema beat Oblak as Los Rojiblancos won 1-0 and drew 1-1 during the most-recent campaign. A similar record is kept in the Champions League, where Real forced through a 1-0 aggregate win thanks to Javier Hernandez's late strike in 2014/15, and only Sergio Ramos could bag in the 2015/16 final before a penalty shootout decided the trophy's destination.
Things may be different this time around, however, with Ronaldo having recently crashed home a hat-trick against Alaves while Oblak comes into the game without a clean sheet in his last four games, a strange dry spell for the highly-rated keeper.El Derbi Madrileno represents a major milestone for club and player with former attacker Paco Gento set to witness his first derby since being appointed as the club's honorary president last month. The six-time European Cup winner was placed in the symbolic role at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu last month after the position was left vacant following the death of old teammate Alfredo Di Stefano two years ago.
But Gento isn't just any player; the left-winger spent 18 seasons at Real Madrid and, alongside Manolo Sanchis, has spent the most amount of time at the club as a player after transferring from Racing Santander as a 19-year-old. In total, the Spanish international faced Atletico Madrid on 42 occasions, 29 of which took place in LaLiga, three in Europe, and another 10 times in the Copa Del Rey. Ahead of this weekend's clash, Gento claims the numerous derbies are all a blur but he has fond memories of matches at the Estadio Vicente Calderon. "I have to read the books again to remember the games, I've played so many derbies that it's not easy," he said. "But I miss the Calderon, I have good memories of the stadium in general. "It's always hard to win there, they've always been a difficult opponent, but on Saturday I hope we win." "We'll see a good game and have a good time, but where Real win. I expect a 1-2 victory."
Another legend who will be present is Amancio Amaro, who lifted the Copa del Generalísimo [now the Copa del Rey] as captain at the Calderon in 1975. Asked about his about his favourite moment at the iconic stadium, Amaro admits the Copa triumph was his greatest achievement there but says the team had to fight hard for the victory. "My favourite is when we won the Copa del Generalisimo on penalties," he told Marca. "I cannot say I enjoyed it because we suffered a lot, but we won." But it will be the familiar face of Emilio Butragueno who'll most enjoy crossing the Manzanares on Saturday once again, having claimed a memorable 3-0 victory on the penultimate day of the 1990/91 season. "We won 0-3 and I scored two goals that day. In addition, it helped me to win the Pichichi with 19 goals," he said.
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