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Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid Live |
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Atletico Madrid will be hoping that a change in coach will bring in a change in form when they welcome Real Madrid in the 144th El Derbi Madrileno on Saturday.
Quique Sanchez Flores' first game in charge of Atletico ended in a defeat as Athletic Bilbao sneaked in a narrow 1-0 win last weekend. Javier Martínez scored the only goal of the game early in the 19th minute to condemn Atletico to its fourth defeat of the season.
The result saw Atletico slip into the bottom three of the league table for the first time this season and Flores will be aware that he will have to help his side turn their form around sooner rather than later if they are to have any hopes of playing in Europe next season.
With Atletico set to take part in one of their most important games this season, Flores will be optimistic that his side can put up a good performance that could see them collect only their second point in five league meetings.
Real Madrid on the other hand will be looking to snap out of a poor set of results with a comprehensive victory over their arch rivals on Saturday. The Los Blancos have managed just one win in their last five matches and pressure is steadily building on coach Manuel Pellegrini to turn things around for the club.
Madrid secured their first victory in four matches with a hard fought 2-0 win over Getafe last weekend with Gonzalo Higuaín scoring a brace. However they soon followed it up with yet another below par performance as they were held to a 1-1 draw by AC Milan in the midweek.
Pellegrini received a big blow on Wednesday after it was revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo will be unavailable for action against Atletico this weekend with the Portuguese winger tipped to remain on the treatment table for at least another two weeks.