Madrid, Sep 26 (IANS) Atletico Madrid is gearing up to host Real Madrid and is still in search of a win against its cross-town rivals on its new pitch at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
A home victory against Los Blancos has eluded Diego Simeone’s team for the past two years, ever since Atletico installed itself at the swanky, new stadium in northeast Madrid.
Some 36 rivals have passed through the new stadium in all competitions and out of a total of 57 games played, Atletico Madrid has a record of 41 wins, 12 draws, four losses, with 100 goals and 29 goals against them, reports Efe news.
Of those 36 clashes, Atletico has won 32. Getafe took the lion’s share of defeats at the stadium, losing three times, while the home side prevailed twice over Celta de Vigo, Real Sociedad, Alaves, Athletic Club Bilbao, Levante and Valencia.
Atletico also defeated several teams once, with Eibar, Juventus, Huesca, Betis, Dortmund, Monaco, Sant Andreu, Espanyol, Girona, Villarreal, Valladolid, Seville, Malaga and Roma all sent packing with a loss.
Atletico has not managed a single home win over Barcelona, however, drawing 1-1 twice.
The Spanish La Liga side also failed to beat Chelsea and Qarabag in the 2017 Champions League, all of which led to Atletico’s elimination in the group stage.
Real Madrid is the fourth team Altetico has been unable to defeat at home, with a draw and a defeat in two derbies.
Atletico was held to a 0-0 home tie against Real Madrid in a frustrating and disappointing duel on 18 November, 2017.
Real Madrid is the last visitor to win at the Wanda Metropolitano when, under Santiago Solari on 9 February, 2019, it handed Atletico a 3-1 defeat.
At Atletico’s stadium, only three other visitors have won. Chelsea earned a 2-1 victory away in the 2017 Champions League. Then Sevilla won away at the Wanda Metropolitano 2-1 in the 2017/18 Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
The third was Espanyol with a 2-0 victory in the 2017/18 La Liga campaign.
Girona joins Real Madrid in scoring three goals at Wanda Metropolitano with the 3-3 Copa del Rey quarterfinals tie last season.
–IANS
kk/bg