Real Madrid stars hoping to end wretched derby day form
Against Atletico Madrid on Saturday night, Real Madrid and Zinedine Zidane will once again be relying on the offensive arsenal that is aiming to consolidate their lead at the top of LaLiga.
It will be no easy task at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, though, as the Merengues have failed to claim a single win in their previous six league derby fixtures, culminating in four defeats and two draws.
Bale out to break hoodoo
Since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur just three years ago, Gareth Bale has achieved a lot: two Champions League crowns, a Club World Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and a Copa Del Rey.In doing so, he has established himself as one of the world's best.
Yet, intriguingly, the Welshmen, despite all the glory, has yet to score a single goal let alone claim a domestic victory over the Rojiblancos - and Valencia too, while we're at it.
As it stands, in five matches, Bale has been involved in two draws (both at the Calderon) and three defeats, two of which came at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and the other being the infamous 4-0 capitulation in 2014/15.
More worrying is the fact that he has yet to net a goal in those five appearances, failing to find a way past Jan Oblak or Thibaut Courtois.
He will undoubtedly back himself this weekend, though. Joint top scorer this season and three goals in his last two matches means he's on track to break his highest tally of 19 LaLiga goals a season in Spain.
Benzema's low scoring rate
The last time Real Madrid scored against Atletico Madrid in a league fixture came last October during a 1-1 draw at the Calderon.That day, it was Karim Benzema who opened the scoring but don't let that fool you - his record against Atletico Madrid is far from perfect.
The Frenchman has only scored three goals in 13 league matches against Simeone's men at a rate of 0.23 goals per game.
To put that into perspective, of all the 33 teams he has come across in LaLiga, Benzema's strike-rate against Atletico is his lowest, barring Alaves, who he has only faced once.
Ronaldo looking to regain form
Cristiano Ronaldo has only scored eight goals against Atletico Madrid in his seven years at the Bernabeu thus far, a pretty modest record for someone of his reputation.For the winger, this weekend's fixture is more than just simply increasing the number of goals he has scored against his cross-town rivals, it's an opportunity to rediscover his form at the club.
Thus far, he has only scored seven goals in 12 games across all competitions this season, far inferior to his seven found in his last three games for his country.
But at 31, Ronaldo has proven that he still is one of the best and will be targeting a clinical performance against last season's Zamora award winner Oblak and arguably the league's best defence.
Morata aiming for inaugural goal
The one-time Atletico Madrid youth product has been Madrid's most proficient this season with eight goals in all competitions thus far.This weekend will be Morata's sixth match against his current club's eternal rivals however he's only played the full 90 minutes against Atleti once.
While he has yet to score against Simeone's men, Morata's form has shown that this weekend could be his best chance yet.
