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[gss-content-box color=”gray”] This weekend sees the Spanish city of Madrid come to a halt as El Derbi madrileño takes place between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. We take a look at some of the history behind the two sides and wonder which of them will be victorious come Saturday.In addition we:- Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
- And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition
For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:
[/gss-content-box]- Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
- Worksheets and transcripts
- Vocabulary lists
Transcript
The Madrid derby takes place this weekend between the colchoneros or the mattress makers of Atlético Madrid and the merengues, or the meringues of Real Madrid. Now, though not as high-profile as the Barcelona-Real Madrid clasico, the rivalry between the two clubs is a deep-rooted one. Atlético Madrid were founded a year after Real in 1903 and they have perfected the role of baby brother ever since. So, though they have won nine Spanish league titles and appeared in a European Cup final, when compared with Real’s haul it seems rather pitiful. Los blancos, the whites, have won nine European cups, as well as 31 domestic titles, including the last two. They also attract the best players and have always had more money than their crosstown rivals. The issue of money is an interesting one as Real play in the majestic Bernabeu Stadium located on the more glamourous north side of the city and their fans have always been associated with wealth. While los rojiblancos, the red and whites, on the other hand are based in the working-class area by the Manzanares River in the south of the city. Their stadium, the Vicente Calderon is much smaller and a lot more rundown than their illustrious neighbour’s but it generates far more passion and noise.
So, who is going to win? Well, if history is anything to go by then it will be a home victory for Real as they have won 48 of the last 71 matches that have taken place there. Indeed, ‘Atleti’ have only won 12 with 1999 being the last time that they did so – ironically, the season that they were relegated and those two facts sum up the club. Inconsistent beyond belief. An inconsistency that has led them to be known as las pupas, the luckless ones. However, much of this bad luck has been brought on by themselves. Atlético fans must wonder what might have been if the club had decided to not disband their youth sides in the early 1990s which meant that Raul moved across the capital to their deadly rivals. Needless to say, his first ever La Liga goal came against los rojiblancos. On current form it should be Real’s victory as they are on an amazing 10-game winning streak which has seen them reduce Barcelona’s lead at the top to only 4 points. Ironically, Real’s cause was helped by their city rivals as Atlético Madrid defeated Barcelona 4-3 in a thrilling game last week. Though both teams may have one eye on the upcoming return legs of difficult Champions League encounters next week, Saturday’s game should be a wonderful occasion.
