Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid, Bernabeu, 8.30pm, Friday
THERE has been the sense since Real Madrid were beaten in the Champions League semi-final by Borussia Dortmund that turmoil is coming to a boil.
Jose Mourinho seems to be losing more friends in the dressing room but he could still finish with a bang by winning a derby match in the Final of the Copa del Rey.
Real Madrid have won four of their last five, one of those wins being a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in a big La Liga clash.
Their draw at Espanyol on Saturday was the first they have not won in five matches in all competitions, having previously beaten Malaga, Valladolid, Dortmund and this weekend’s opponents Atletico But the most important thing is Real have won the last 10 matches against Atletico.
Mesut Ozil is set to return for Jose Mourinho’s side having missed the draw with Espanyol while Sergio Ramos and Marcelo look set to be available again after recovering from their respective problems.
Rapahael Varane is definitely out with a serious knee injury picked up at the weekend. Varane's injury could provide a reprieve for Pepe who has fallen out of favour after lashing out at Mourinho's treatment of club captain Iker Casillas.
Atletico Madrid have had a decent enough campaign and have definitely secured their place among Europe's elite in the Champions League next season.
They were pegged back by Barcelona on Sunday, conceding two late goals to lose 2-1 after Radamel Falcao had given them the lead early in the second half. It means Diego Simeone’s men have now won only one of their last four
Argentine Simeone, who helped Atletico to win their last cup as a player in 1996, has a full squad to choose from and in Brazilian striker Diego Costa has the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals.
Falcao has never been on the losing side in a major final and has never failed to score in one either and that will at least provide the Los Rojiblancos with some hope of achieving the impossible and winning this game. The Colombian striker has netted 28 Primera Division goals this term, almost half of the 62 Atletico scored.
Atletico actually have the best defensive record in La Liga by something of a country mile and therefore are capable of springing a surprise.
Likely line-ups
REAL MADRID (4-2-3-1): Lopez; Marcelo, Albiol, Ramos, Coentrao; Alonso, Modric; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuain.
ATLETICO MADRID (4-4-2): Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Luis; Garcia, Gabi, Suarez, Koke; Diego Costa, Falcao.
Recommended Bets
Draw @ 4.68 pinnacle
Both teams to score @ 1.65 mybet
2-2 correct score @ 19.00 totesport
Falcao anytime goalscorer @ 2.75 skybet
Milesey (Betfair)
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Nice to see you tipping Falcao to score, I highlighted him earlier. 7/4 is a decent price. I think Real Madrid will edge this game and I can see them winning by 1 goal which is available @ 3/1
Totally agree with you on this game Chris guy ..
Falcao always has a goal in him,& the game will be a close one,but Real Madrid have a great record against athletico, so 7/1 for 2-1 & 11/1 for 3-1(skybet)looks a gd bet for me..
Stevie you can get 8/1 and 12/1 online with hills mate
DRAW @ 14/5
DRAW OR ATLETICO MADRID @ 23/20
ATLETICO MADRID WIN @ 7/2
ATLETICO MADRID TO LIFT THE TROPHY @ 11/4
……………AND OVER 3.5 GOALS @13/8
5 SINGLES.
Milesey
Copa del Rey
RESULT after 90 mins…………
Real Madrid 1-1 Atl. Madrid
————————————————-
Recommended Bets
Draw @ 4.68 pinnacle
Both teams to score @ 1.65 mybet
————————————————-
DRAW @ 14/5
DRAW OR ATLETICO MADRID @ 23/20
————————————————–
and one left to come in…………………………
ATLETICO MADRID TO LIFT THE TROPHY @ 11/4
Milesey
ATLETICO MADRID TO LIFT THE TROPHY @ 11/4
;) ;)
Milesey
I have gone falcao to score Real Madrid to win at 18/5 and the. Small on falcao to score the draw which is at 8/1 looks like its gone be one of falcao last games for Madrid so can see him getting at least one but don’t think there team will be able to beat Real Madrid.good luck all these bets are with victor chandler
Defensive Options
The injury problems here are truly staggering. As mentioned, Varane is definitely out. Álvaro Arbeloa has been battling a back strain that kept him out against RCD Espanyol. That injury coupled with Mourinho ostracizing Pepe for post-match verbal dissent led to Varane being risked at the weekend in the first place. Marcelo can be counted out as he’s battling back from an injury that disrupted his recovery from another. The biggest question, however, will be Sergio Ramos. He hasn’t played since his heroic performance in the second leg of the UCL Semi-Final and has not been participating in full training, but rather in the recovery program. At the moment, Raúl Albiol and Ricardo Carvalho are the only fully fit center backs that Mourinho doesn’t have in his dog house, unless you count Nacho as a center back option.
Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid are one of the top sides in Spain as far as having its possession in the final third. With inventive players like Arda Turan (coming off injury) and Koke likely to feature as the support for a striker pairing of Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao, positionally competent fullbacks will be important for Real Madrid. Both Turan and Koke usually feature as the wide midfielders in a 4-4-2, but tend to drift inside and take on more of playmaking roles. Turan and Diego Costa usually work the same side of the pitch and drag and interchange well.
With Arbeloa battling injury and the bison, Michael Essien, having already proven his positional competency from a right back position in the biggest matches this season, Essien seems a lock to start there, for me. His strength and grit would likely be valuable when dealing with the petulance of both Costa and Turan.
I expect Sergio Ramos to be able to feature alongside Raúl Albiol as the center back pairing. We can only wait and see if Mourinho is willing to reintroduce Pepe to the fold alongside Ramos, but I personally don’t expect him to. If Ramos is unable, it’s a proposition of having to include Pepe, Carvalho or Nacho. Carvalho’s legs have been failing his sharp positional mind at an ever-increasing rate since his first season at Madrid. Nacho has improved and impressed in his time, but not likely to be trusted in as big a stage. As for left back, Fabio Coentrão remains the only true option.
Xabi Alonso has usually sat especially deep in the recent encounters with Atlético Madrid in order to block off service to Falcao. I expect the same on Friday. The Colombian can find the net against anyone (Chelsea fans shudder at the thought of Falcao running at their defense), so the Albiol-Ramos-Alonso triumvirate will have quite a task. The question is who will join Alonso in the double pivot. Sami Khedira has been steady there so long as the opposing side hasn’t been able to sever off Alonso’s attacking influence. If such is the case, Modric will likely be favored as the outlet to link defense and attack.
The Attack
Real Madrid’s attacking options won’t be nearly as limited as its defensive ones. Mesut Özil is reportedly set to return for the final following his troubling ankle injury suffered against Real Valladolid on May 4th. Gabi and Mario Suárez will be the opposing double pivot charged with disrupting Real’s counter.
In La Liga’s first fixture featuring these two squads, Gabi and Suárez did well to do just that, but Özil still found the winning goal. In the second fixture (that only featured three Real starters from the UCL tie with Dortmund at the midweek), Ángel di María’s wide presence was too much for Atlético to deal with. The full arsenal of Cristiano Ronaldo, di María, Özil and Karim Benzema should be enough to cause Atlético serious problems. While Diego Simeone’s personality has injected a defensive fire to his side, it still hasn’t been enough to overturn a putrid run of winlessness against big brother, Real Madrid. Which bring us to…
The Winless Streak
Atlético hasn’t won against Real Madrid since the calendar has started reading 2000. We’re thirteen years into the new millennium and los colchoneros have yet to win against Real Madrid. This is something tactics just can’t account for. It’s a psychological block unlike any other I’ve encountered since becoming a football fan. Whenever it seems certain Atlético will finally overcome (the very last encounter being primed perfectly for it), it just always fall through for them. Simeone’s gotten his side to improve in many areas since becoming the manager, but this stain on the club’s accomplishments has to be infuriating.
All streaks and records are meant to be broken. It has to end some time !
Milesey
RMad have the hoodoo over AMad/have done for many moons…widna be backing them at the prices but I would think, invariably RMad will come out on top…they always do and slao have Ronaldo. hope its a nice open game…4-2 RMad might be worth fifty pence!!
Agree with Guido Real Madrid will win my 50p correct scores are 3-1 and 3-2 :)
real madrid for me cmon
Fair play milesey. I followed you on the double chance atletico and the over 3.5 goals. I was thinking of putting on atletico to lift the trophy but thought it was a step too far. Good shouts here. I did get a win cast bet so happy days