La Liga Preview: For Real and Atletico, the Ownership of Madrid Is Up for Grabs

So here we are again, ready to do all this once more. With the sort of frequency only Top Gear reruns from Dave’s middle-of-the-day programming can match, Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid is back, for the 17th time in three years. There’s good reason why Marca recently dubbed it “the never-ending derby.”

If it’s said that familiarity breeds contempt, then these two rivals are ready to go all Clyde Shelton on one another. Seventeen times in little more than three seasons is a hell of a lot: It was five in 2013-14, a staggering eight in 2014-15 and three more last term.

They’ve met on every front and on the biggest of them all, twice; it’s the capital’s last Spanish champions against its European champions; domestic slayers facing down continental conquerors.

The battle of Madrid has surely never rumbled on like this, on and on, swaying one way and then the next. The judges have abandoned the points system in mathematical exhaustion, heading for the pub: Whose city in this?

Many, though, would argue the question of the ownership of Madrid is a pointless one, that there is no question. Already from up the back you can hear mocking laughter mixed in with the blurting of the numbers that count: “32 to 10, pal, 11 to none.”

It’s a reasonable assessment to make, and those numbers carry weight. For large sections in the capital, pondering whether Madrid is up for grabs is a bit like pondering whether the world once needed some more boob from Jesus Gil. Or more profanities. Or more buildings.

That same group would also nod in the direction of the table. Real arrive at Saturday’s derby at the Vicente Calderon as league leaders, undefeated in 11 games, two points clear of Barcelona and six clear of Atletico. It’s a nice cushion for Zinedine Zidane’s men but not so for their rivals. “It’s a dangerous derby,” Koke told Marca’s Miguel Angel Lara.

—Improve set piece defending