3 reasons why Atletico Madrid would defeat Real Madrid

#2 Ronaldo's departure

Ronaldo in action for Juventus in Serie A

After nine successful seasons in LaLiga with Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo departed Spain for Italy in a shocking transfer to Juventus, and one of the clubs which would have been happiest to see him leave is the capital's second team.

The Madeira native netted 22 times against the Wanda Metropolitano boys, including two hat-tricks at the former stadium Vincente Calderon in the 2016/2017 season, hence having felt enough of his wrath, you could forgive Atletico Madrid who were more than glad that their nemesis had finally departed.

With 12 La Liga goals scored in 16 matches against Atleti, they are his third most favourite opponents (after Sevilla and Getafe), and in his absence, Real Madrid haven't shown that they have the requisite defence to curtail any top attack, failing in all their tests against Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao and Atleti themselves back in August.

When it comes to defending, Atleti are high up there among the best at shutting out opponents, and when Ronaldo was present, there was always the threat of the 33-year-old making a decisive contribution. But with him gone, Atleti would very much fancy their chances at the Bernabeu.