Atletico Madrid Have Golden Chance to Land Knockout Blow to Bruised Real Madrid

In one half of Madrid, the news has gotten worse by the day. In the other, it keeps getting better.  

"Carlo Ancelotti must build another puzzle in record time," declared AS on Monday. "Ancelotti is tearing his hair out trying to find the perfect lineup to face Atletico," Marca stressed with equal alarm. 

According to the former, the Real Madrid manager's task "will be more complicated than his last Sudoku."

In defence, the Italian won't have Marcelo for the second leg of Real's Champions League quarter-final clash with Atletico Madrid due to suspension. In midfield, he'll be without Luka Modric because of a knee injury. In attack, he'll have to conjure something different without Gareth Bale—and possibly Karim Benzema too.

But what about over in the other camp? 

"Cholo's only concern surrounds [Mario] Mandzukic's right ankle," AS revealed, heightening the sense that Wednesday's eighth Derbi madrileno of the season is the disorganised versus the orderly. 

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Outwardly, Ancelotti has insisted that all is well ahead of the biggest game in Real Madrid's season to date.

"For the game against Atletico we are not concerned, we [just] have to find solutions to some absences," he told Radio anch'io lo sport (h/t AS), even though one of his stars, James Rodriguez, candidly admitted to Canal+ (h/t Marca) that the injuries to Bale and Modric are "a worry."

Against the bulk of the team's opponents, the forced reshuffle wouldn't be a major concern, with the solutions relatively obvious—plug in Fabio Coentrao at left-back, introduce another midfielder or two and turn to homegrown Jese in attack. Job done.

But when faced with Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, it becomes considerably more complicated. Even at full strength, Real have found Atleti to be an immovable obstacle this season. In the seven meetings so far, they're winless. In four of them, they've gone goalless.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

This is a rivalry that's been turned on its head. Atletico, the team that went 14 years without a win against their more glamorous rivals until 2013, are dominating the capital battle. 

And now, as Simeone's men look to extend their unbeaten run to a perfect eight in 2014-15, Ancelotti has conundrums everywhere: How does he maintain width without Marcelo? How does he develop rhythm without Modric? How does he attack without Bale? How does he link it all up if Benzema isn't fit? And, most importantly, how does he do all of that against Real's current tormentors?

For Atletico, it's a golden opportunity, a chance to land the knockout blow Los Colchoneros crave after establishing a season-long control in this duel. With few headaches to speak of and possessing the confidence a commanding record builds, Atleti couldn't be better placed to reach a Champions League semi-final at the expense of their bruised neighbours.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Yet there's also a pressure for Simeone's men. This opportunity, though golden, isn't what you'd call a free hit for a massive underdog. 

The weakened Real Madrid lineup changes the dynamic slightly; in measures of star power and quality, it evens the ledger a little. Down on the banks of the Manzanares, what might have once been hope is quickly becoming something more akin to expectation.

That, on its own, creates a unique pressure. Think about it: If Atletico were to lose Wednesday's second leg, 50 years from now, the club will still remember the time it missed the chance to deliver a hammer blow to a hurting rival.

That stuff matters. The better the chance, the more important it becomes that it's taken. 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

What's more, this is the one that really counts. The clash, the competition, the stage that carries more weight than any other.

For all Atleti's dominance over Real Madrid this season, none of it will matter if Real dump the men from the Vicente Calderon out of Europe. It would still only be one loss in eight games against Los Blancos, but it would be the one. Every other Atletico-Real moment of the season would be irrelevant—the significance of their current dominance completely extinguished.

Real Madrid, given their history and the expectation that follows them, naturally have a lot to lose at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. But Atletico, with their golden opportunity, have just as much on the line.

Follow @TimDCollins