Real Madrid are playing Atletico at the Calderon this weekend. As we all know, Madrid suffered multiple losses against Sevilla today (Which I couldn't be more pissed about) James & Ramos are 99% sure to miss the derby vs Atletico. Marcelo got a yellow card (Which he didn't deserve as he didn't even touch the Sevilla player) which bans him from playing the derby vs Atleti, but Real Madrid could appeal and get the yellow taken off as it was just a ridiculous decision from the ref. The only good news for Real is that Ronaldo will come back, but without some of our key players, it will still be hard. Bale is not on good form, Benzema is the type of player that can have an amazing game, or disappear completely. (lets hope he has an amazing game) and with James off, things will be complicated in attack for Real, specially considering Atletico LOVE, I repeat, LOVE, let me say that again just to make it clear, LOVE to park the bus. With Pepe injured and in doubt for the derby, the only options for center backs are Nacho and Varane, they are young and good, specially Varane, but Nacho is not mature enough and could make a few mistakes, he was very good vs Sevilla, but as you can see in Sevilla's goal, he doesn't have the best positioning and is prone to making a few mistakes. I have faith in our defense, but obviously they aren't having the best time, and with our best CB's injured, I dont see things going too smoothly for Real Madrid defensive-wise.

I sadly predict a 2-0 or 2-1 win for Atletico. I do indeed have faith in my team and have hopes they will pull off the win, because it is crucial for us at this point of the league, but with these many players suspended or injured, it is very difficult to beat Atleti. I pray that Atletico wont play as dirty as they usually do and wont injure any of our players. What are your thoughts for the derby and score predictions?

^ dribbling past players is MUCH easier in La Liga. That's why Bale scored so many in his first season, and they were generally easy goals. In the PL most of Bale's goals were world class. That's the difference. Haters gonna deny this, but it's true. When you shove him out on the wing and tell him to feed Ronaldo, of course he will score less. Same with Suarez at Barca.

#obvious

This is also why Henry and Ronaldo were so prolific in Spain the moment they set foot off the plane. It's really not rocket science. They didn't need to 'warm up' they immediately had record-breaking seasons.

Agree with lodatz , so you can refer to his answer .

Let's not run away from topic about Chelsea . Chelsea of last year was missing several quality players in crucial positions that did not fit the style Jose wanted team to play . Now we have those players and they perform well , because they fit our philosophy of football and have the right players with right chemistry helping each other to succeed individually and collectively .

I just think La Liga is a bit more tactical, while the BPL is a much more physical league. (Not saying which league is better). So for someone like Bale, who's main attribute is PACE, it's hard in La Liga. And agreed 100% with Tiki, thats the same reason you see Bale and Benzema perform much better in the UCL than in La Liga.

It is specially difficult for players like Bale to play against Atletico, he is a player that needs space to shine, but Atletico close spaces down very well, mark each player with 3 defenders, and the whole team closes down and helps defend.

Why talking about hate ? You said your point i said mine, thats it.
When i tell you Suarez driblle less and Sanchez diblle more, i watched them both enough and even more at Barça so its pretty clear for me or for la liga followers, whats the problem ? I should not have my point because you dont think so ? Grow up.

For Henry, he never scored more than 20 goals a season in la liga, Henry wasnt the spectacular Henry of PL for a reason, driblled less but still was able to score as any world class player no matter the league he plays in.

Dribbling is more dificult in Spain and its a matter of fact for me, and if you do not agree your problem but dont start the old fights, they are useless, keep your biased view, and i will say mine and others will say theirs...

Sanchez doubled his average of dribling moving from Spain to PL, played at Barça.
Suarez used to have 3.6 average dribble per game, his actual stats are half of this, playing at Barça.

Unless Suarez dropped form and Sanchez improved drastically in summer vacation, this is enough to proove my point without getting into big argumentations...

Tall defenders are very easy to driblle and slow, if you play Football you should know it.

There is considerably less space in La Liga for dribbling than there is in the EPL. Bale, Suarez, and Ronaldo are prime examples of this. Their lack of dribbling in La Liga exemplifies this argument.

"In the PL most of Bale's goals were world class"

• Yeah, and he dribbled past 3-4 players for quite a few of them. The only dribble goals he's scored for Real were against Barcelona and Rayo. #obvious

The main difference is that in La Liga defenders defend way deeper than in EPL. That way it is harder not to dribble past player but to end scoring after doing so. A clear example I noticed is the way in which Chicharito used to score at united and the way he started scoring at Madrid in his first few games. In United 99.9% of the goals were inside the box, most of them inside the small box while at RM he already scored 2 goals from outside the box.

last stat is the number of passes in the attacking 3rd.
these are from 2011, still good to give you an idea. is not that Bale is being trash, he's a good player. people expect too see 100mil worth of stuff on the pitch, and there is where the problem lies.

@Dynast Both Barcelona and Rayo play possession Football, Rayo has one of the highest possession average of the league, i dont know if its a coincidence or not but both teams leave Huge space and they arent confortable in counters...

"There is considerably less space in La Liga for dribbling than there is in the EPL."

False.

"Bale, Suarez, and Ronaldo are prime examples of this."

False. I mean, seriously, do you even watch Ronaldo?

"Yeah, and he dribbled past 3-4 players for quite a few of them."

False. Did you even watch Bale at Tottenham?

I say again: when you stick him on the wing and tell him to feed Ronaldo, he will score less. When you give him the ball and tell him to be the main man, he scores world class goals.

#obvious.