Mr. 92:48 – Destroyer of Atleti’s Dreams
The team began preparing today for El Derbi Madrileño aka our big crosstown rivalry/Sernando reunion.
2 out of 3 Pips were called up (Martin Odegaard and Marcos Llorente) while Benz, Lukita, Isco & Dani trained indoors. G-Money and Pepe continued their recovery but came out to do some running.
Seeing as how Atleti are one point above us in the table, this one means alot. I always have trepidation going to into these derbies. Incredibly stressful. Like a mini-Clasico and sometimes, even worse – remember back in the days of Costa where they used to maim us at every opportunity?
Thoughts going into this?
– Lozil
I’m dying inside. I expect it to be a really difficult match. I’ll be happy with a draw, if I’m honest. It’s only been 2 months since Zidane took over and while I feel better about our play, I don’t think we’ve fully gained back our identity.
I think we need Benzema more than most give him credit for. In addition to the fact that he is our only real striker, he works excellently in small spaces. his work off the ball to draw defenders and open up opportunities for the others and his ability to hold up play are quite integral to our ability to both keep possession and score goals.
I dunno. I expect a blood bath otherwise