There is more than a degree of familiarity between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as they enter a titanic Champions League semi-final battle.
Not only do they share a city, they constantly share these big occasions and for the fourth season in a row, their European paths cross.
Here are the ten keys to the double-header, which kicks off on Tuesday night at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Atletico’s right-back
Not one, not two, but the three preferred right-back options to Diego Simeone are lost for the first leg. Juanfran and Sime Vrsaljko are out long-term and only Jose Gimenez may make the return game next Wednesday, leading to Lucas Hernandez being the solution at the Bernabeu. Often deployed on the left side of defence, aside from his usual central position, the Frenchman represents a loss in attacking threat for the visitors.
Marcelo and Carvajal’s form
At the other end of the scale, Real’s full-backs are in world class form going into the tie, having provided 21 assists between them in 2016/17. Stopping them is paramount for Los Colchoneros.
Dirty sheets
A substandard defence has often plagued Real all season, keeping just 10 clean sheets in 53 games compared to Atleti’s 28. Furthermore, Jan Oblak has conceded nine goals in this fixxture compared to Keylor Navas’ eight at the opposite end of the pitch.
Atletico’s dynamic duo
Diego Godin and Stefan Savic are perhaps the most feared centre-back pairing in LaLiga, if not European football. No one has blocked more shots than the Montenegrin in the Spanish top-flight this campaign while Godin holds the highest tally of headed clearances.
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Keeping hold of the ball
Accumulating an average of 19 dispossessions per game, no Rojiblancos player loses the ball more than Yannick Carrasco and given both side’s fierce counter-attacking threat, this could be a key statistic if the Belgian starts on Tuesday. Danilo and Marcelo are top of this particular leaderboard for Los Merengues.
Real’s killer balls
With more attempted and more successful passes in the final third, Real certainly have the key to unlock defences. Kevin Gameiro completes the most for Atleti but even he cannot match Marco Asensio, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Mateo Kovacic in this regard.
Dangerous errors
Atletico commit more incomplete passes inside their own half than their city rivals, who claim a 90 percent passing accuracy in this area of the park. Only Savic can boast this figure in Simeone’s squad and Angel Correa is the player most guilty of losing possession near his own goal.
The Ronaldo factor
As ever, Cristiano Ronaldo will be the great attacking hope of Zinedine Zidane’s XI and he’s fired 18 shots into the Atleti net during his career, including a hat-trick at the Estadio Vicente Calderon in LaLiga earlier in the campaign. However, he’s only notched once against his neighbours in Europe.
The battle for airspace
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With 25 headed goals already in the bag for 2016/17, Real pose great danger to their opposition when it comes to putting balls into the box. In fact, 217 of their 799 crosses have met their target this season.
Rojiblanco form at the Bernabeu
After securing a late draw last month via Antoine Griezmann’s goal, Los Colchoneros have gone four games without defeat at the home of their local rivals. With three wins and a draw, their last defeat came in the 88th minute of the 2015 Champions League quarter-final as Javier Hernandez knocked them out, 1-0 on aggregate.
