After a mixed start to the season, the two Madrid ogres are arriving at the right time in the home stretch of La Liga. With 9 points behind Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid will try to reduce the gap. For its part, the Merengue club must win to stay in the wheel of Barça, leader with 4 points in advance and who host Rayo on Sunday afternoon.
At what time and on which channel to watch Real Madrid – Atlético de Madrid
The Madrid derby will be broadcast on beIN Sports 1, live for subscribers, on Sunday March 22, 2026, at 9 p.m.
Real on a cloud
Qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, by eliminating Manchester City (3-0, 1-2, aggregate score 5-1), boosted the confidence of Arbeloa’s players. The Merengue will face Bayern in the quarter-finals of the competition.
In La Liga, the two surprise defeats, against Osasuna and Getafe, in recent weeks, have allowed FC Barcelona to take a 4-point lead at the top of the championship. But Real Madrid does not admit defeat in the title race and should find Kylian Mbappé on the pitch. The Frenchman only played a few minutes against the Cityzens but he seems to have recovered from his knee injury. On the other hand, Courtois was injured on Tuesday and will miss at least a month of competition. A victory for Real on Sunday evening would put pressure on the Blaugrana, who will challenge the Colchoneros at the Metropolitano just after the break.
Atlético, there
The only Spanish team still competing in the three major competitions (Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey), Atlético de Madrid can enjoy an exceptional end to the season. After eliminating Tottenham (5-2, 3-2, cumulative score 7-5), Diego Simeone’s men face Barça in the quarter-final of the Champions League. In the Copa del Rey, they face Real Sociedad in the final in April. And in La Liga, they must maintain their place on the podium after being provisionally overtaken on Friday evening by Villarreal, winner of Real Sociedad (3-1). A victory for Atlético on Sunday would allow it to come back to 6 points behind Real Madrid, 2nd, and remain 2 points ahead of Villarreal. A defeat would certainly say goodbye to the top two places in La Liga at the end of the season.
The probable compositions of Real Madrid – Atlético de Madrid
- Real : Lunin – Garcia, Huijsen, Rüdiger, Alexander-Arnold – Güler, Tchouaméni, Pitarch, Valverde – Vinicius Jr, Diaz
- Atlético: Muso – Molina, Le Normand, Hancko, Ruggeri – Simeone, Llorente, Cardoso, Lookman – Alvarez, Griezmann
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