The clash of next weekend at Santiago Bernabéu between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid will be one of the most important matches of the League season. After the results of Saturday, which saw Real Madrid lose in Espanyol and Atleti win Mallorca at home, the gap between the two clubs is just a point.
To make things worse for Real Madrid, they will be without Antonio Rudiger for the confrontation party, since he is ready to lose the next three weeks of action due to an injury to the hamstrings suffered in the defeat against Espanyol. However, Atleti will also be without one of its initial central defenders.
Robin Le Normand has been working again to return to full aptitude after a traumatic brain injury, which he suffered in the reverse accessory against Real Madrid. He has begun the last four games of the Atleti League, but he will not be able to do it at Bernabéu.
According to Relay, Normand accumulated his fifth yellow letter of the season in the victory over Mallorca on Saturday. As a result, it has activated an automatic suspension of a match in the league, which will enter into force next weekend.
Fortunately for Diego Simeone, he does have a ready replacement in José Maria Giménez, who has also been working in his physical state after suffering a muscular injury in the victory in Barcelona Pre-Christmas. It is expected that he and Clement Lenglet are the central defensive association in the Bernabéu.
However, there was good news for Atleti, since two other players avoided collecting a fifth yellow letter from the season in the league. The biggest concern was Julian Álvarez, but managed to play 60 minutes against Mallorca without collecting a reserve, before being taken by Antoine Griezmann. Meanwhile, Koke Resurrection was also walking down a tightrope, but he also survived.