This Saturday evening we have a real treat on the menu in La Liga. Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano and that clash just might be decided in the middle of the park.
On the chalkboard
Real Madrid will be making a short trip across the capital and meeting their city rivals, Atletico Madrid, in one of the first big derbies of the ongoing campaign.
As it currently stands, it will be a clash between first and third-placed teams in Spain and the victory for either would be huge at this point in the season.
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But looking at the personnel and the squad both giants have at their disposal, whoever wins the battle for supremacy in midfield just might go on to win the whole game.
With that in mind, Toni Kroos’ clash against Koke is looking likely to be a key battle come Saturday night.
The midfield generals
Real Madrid’s 29-year-old German maestro has really been blowing hot and cold so far this season.
Even though he was harshly criticised recently, Kroos managed a masterful performance against Osasuna which proved that when he’s on his best, not many can go toe to toe with him.
And Los Blancos will certainly need him to be at his best against Atletico Madrid’s own general in midfield – Koke.
The 27-year-old has so far tallied one assist in the ongoing campaign but has also registered 2.7 key passes and 0.5 shots per game in La Liga. Kroos is also not far behind. In fact, he edges Koke out in both with 3.3 key passes and 2.2 shots per game.
The Spaniard, however, makes more interceptions per game with his 1.5 outshining Kroos’ 0.8. As far as tackling goes, the situation is once again pretty close and there’s just a slight margin between the two midfielders.
Koke has averaged 1.3 tackles while Kroos is on two per game but the former is definitely harder to dribble past with that only happening once per game on average so far. The German, however, has been dribbled past 1.5 times per game.
Judging purely by the stats, it looks like Real Madrid just might have a small advantage going into the game but the venue should also not be disregarded.
Atletico Madrid’s home, the Wanda Metropolitano, is definitely not an easy fortress to conquer as Diego Simeone’s men are yet to be defeated there across all competitions in the 2019/20 season.
If, however, the Galacticos manage to dominate the middle of the park, they just might stand a chance of changing that.
