The Santiago Bernabéu will host another edition of ELDERBI DE MADRID between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, while FC Barcelona will visit Benfica for a key first leg on Wednesday. Following a thrilling Matchday 26 in LALIGA EA SPORTS, in which FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top, while Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid follow in second and third place, these three clubs’ attention now turns to the UEFA Champions League. The first legs of the Last 16 will take place this midweek, ahead of the second legs one week later. There is no margin for error in this knockout round, so some fascinating 180-minute ties await.
All three of these teams are still dreaming of a treble, since they’re firmly in the LALIGA EA SPORTS title race and also in the Copa del Rey semi-finals. The business end of the season has very much arrived.
Real Madrid vs Atlético de Madrid: A European ELDERBI DE MADRID eight years later
There is a blockbuster fixture on Tuesday. After Real Madrid eliminated Manchester City in the playoff round, they were paired with Atlético de Madrid. This will be the third meeting between these teams this season and it’s their first European derby in eight years.
Revenge will be one of the themes in this European meeting, after Los Blancos defeated their city rivals in the 2014 and 2016 finals of this competition. In fact, Real Madrid have never lost a match at home against their neighbours in European competition, winning all three of the continental clashes played at the Bernabéu. However, Carlo Ancelotti’s side haven’t had much derby joy of late. Apart from a victory in the 2024 Spanish Super Cup, they haven’t defeated their rivals in any other meeting across the past two seasons.
Furthermore, both clubs have taken different paths to this tie. Diego Simeone’s side finished inside the top eight, thanks to impressive victories over the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayer Leverkusen. On the other hand, Real Madrid had to go through a playoff against Manchester City. As for their LALIGA EA SPORTS form, Real Madrid just lost 2-1 to Real Betis at the Estadio Benito Villamarín, on the same day when Atlético de Madrid overcame Athletic Club 1-0 to boost their confidence.
Looking at the squads, both these clubs have star players across the pitch. In the Real Madrid ranks, both Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius have scored seven goals each this Champions League season, while both Julián Álvarez and Antoine Griezmann are on six each for Atleti.
Veteran Luka Modrić is another one to watch in this game, and his 39 derby appearances is the most of any player currently in these two squads. There are some injuries at both clubs, though, meaning Atlético de Madrid will be without Koke and César Azpilicueta, while Real Madrid are missing Dani Ceballos, Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão.
Benfica vs FC Barcelona: A rematch after the epic comeback in the league phase
In this tie, the first leg will be held in Portugal before the second leg in Montjuïc. Barça have earned the right to host the second leg having finished in the top eight in the league phase, during which they already paid a visit to Benfica. That was a truly epic game, with FC Barcelona producing a comeback to win 5-4, led by Raphinha and his two goals.
Hansi Flick’s side finished that league phase in second place, having earned six wins, one draw and just one defeat. They were the top scorers with 28 goals. Benfica, in their case, overcame Monaco 4-3 in the playoff round, after a league phase in which they won four games, drew one and lost three.
Benfica are currently second in the Portuguese league and are known for their dynamic play, so FC Barcelona will need to be careful. The players know that, after the scare in their earlier meeting. Looking at other previous meetings, the team from Lisbon defeated Barça 3-0 at the Estádio da Luz in 2021/22. FC Barcelona do come into this game with confidence, after defeating Real Sociedad 4-0 last weekend, while they also scored four goals in a 4-4 draw against Atlético de Madrid last midweek. Curiously, there were seven different scorers of the eight goals across those past two matches, highlighting the attacking depth of this team.
Both clubs do have one goal threat standing out above the others, Vangelis Pavlidis in the case of the Portuguese side and Robert Lewandowski for the Catalans. Benfica’s Greek striker scored a hat-trick against Barça in the previous meeting, a feat previously achieved by the likes of Faustino Asprilla, Andriy Shevchenko and Kylian Mbappé in this competition. Meanwhile, Lewandowski has a good record against Benfica, and netted seven goals in six meetings with the Portuguese side during his Bayern Munich days, including a hat-trick in a 5-2 win in 2021/22. He kept that up with a brace in the league phase game between these sides on January 21st, and will hope for another positive outing this Wednesday.
