Madrid or Manchester?
That is the question.
This Sunday offers us the derby of the Spanish capital and the Manchester derby.
Unfortunately, the Spaniards will face off at 4:15 p.m. while the English at 5.30 p.m.
Too short a deadline to follow the two meetings, it may be necessary to make a choice.
Here's a quick guide to deciding which derby to watch.
The stake in the standings: Madrid
If the two matches bring together the first two of the championship, the English Premier League already seems to be folded eleven days from its end.
Manchester City, on a series of 21 consecutive victories in all competitions, absolutely trumps all its opponents and has a fourteen point lead over its neighbor.
Even if United win, it's hard to believe that the championship would be relaunched.
The scenario could have been the same in Madrid if Atlético had not experienced a slight downturn in February.
The Colchoneros lost once against Levante (2-0, February 20) and had to concede a draw twice, again against Levante (1-1, on February 17) and against Celta Vigo (2-2 , February 8).
In February, Atlético will have taken only eight points out of fifteen possible, which allowed its competitors to come back a little on their heels, including Real Madrid.
Even if the Colchoneros still have a comfortable five-point mattress and one game less compared to the Merengue, a defeat in the derby could revive this end of the championship.
Especially since Barcelona shows the tip of its nose and will not hesitate to play the scavengers.
The beauty of the game: Manchester
The Citizens walk on the water, are at 21 consecutive victories and seem unstoppable.
Blame it on a very pleasant game played by Pep Guardiola's men.
If they struggled to win against West Ham at home last Saturday (2-1 victory), they resumed the path of good play to easily triumph over Wolves (4-1) on Tuesday.
If there is a Manchester who plays football well, it is City.
The Red Devils are much more timid and frankly not a gift to watch.
Their credo: leave the ball to the opponent.
This is why they have a hard time facing weaker teams who, too, do not want to embarrass themselves with the ball.
Against City, United shouldn't touch the ball too much, and that will suit them wonderfully.
The Madrileños are, much like the Red Devils, allergic to the way lately and prefer to win with a less shimmering game.
By losing to Chelsea in their first leg of the knockout stages of the Champions League (0-1, February 23), Atlético certainly showed the saddest face that a league leader can show.
Let us hope that Real, sluggish but independent of its will, and Atlético are engaged in a better battle with better oiled weapons than in recent weeks.
The little extra: Manchester
By winning against their neighbor, Manchester City would fly 17 points from the Red Devils, but above all would record their 22nd consecutive victory in all competitions, their 15th in the Premier League.
The Citizens would only be one success away from equaling the all-time record for winning streaks among the five major European leagues.
Bayern Munich, who had a string of 23 straight wins last season, would see their historic performance be joined very quickly.
That City succeed in maintaining this incredible streak is undoubtedly one of the attractions that could tip the scales in the Sky Blues' side.
Atlético for its part will try to embellish a not very flattering record at home against Real since the Matelassiers have only won once at home in the league since the 1999-2000 season (4-0, the 7th February 2015).
Verdict
:
Manchester City are obviously a treat to watch play most of the time.
Especially since each derby has its share of aggressiveness and adrenaline.
However, the Madrid meeting could be more poisonous as the stakes are high.
The beautiful game may not be present this Sunday at the Wanda Metropolitano but the desire and the commitment will surely be there.
Two derbies with opposite styles and different stakes.
There is little chance that the viewer will emerge a loser.
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