Madrid: Atletico Madrid has failed to beat Real Madrid in the past 12 years despite winning multiple trophies and fielding Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan among an array of talented players.
The crosstown rivals meet Saturday in the Spanish league at Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the site of Atletico's last capital derby win in 1999 — Madrid then going on an unbeaten run of 21 games against its neighbor across all competitions.
Atletico was eventually relegated that season, and the team is again closer to the drop zone than the lead this campaign, trailing Madrid in top spot by 15 points and only seven points in front of 18th-place Granada.
Oddly, Atletico has managed to beat Barcelona eight times in the past 12 years, only one victory fewer than Madrid has achieved against its fiercest rival.
"We have to play a perfect game," Atletico midfielder Diego said on Thursday. "We have to take advantage of any opportunities, which will probably be few."
While Madrid is waiting to know whether forwards Kaka and Angel Di Maria and defenders Alvaro Arbeloa and Ricardo Carvalho will be available after missing the past two games, Atletico is counting on the return of Colombia striker Radamel Falcao.
Brazil fullback Marcelo trained on Thursday and should return after missing Madrid's 6-2 demolishing of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Madrid has won 12 straight games in all competitions ahead of the Dec. 10 match against Barcelona, which trails the Spanish leader by three points going into Saturday's crosstown match at Getafe.
Barcelona hasn't lost since last season, a run of 27 games that includes Wednesday's 3-2 Champions League victory at AC Milan. The Spanish and European champions are one match away from equaling the club record set last season.
Valencia is also coming off an impressive European victory, bouncing back from a loss to Madrid by thrashing Belgian club Racing Genk 7-0 on Wednesday.
Valencia is seven points behind Madrid in third place and travels to the Spanish capital on Saturday to play Rayo Vallecano.
Vallecano has been the top performing promoted team this season, sitting in 10th place and level on points with Atletico.
Athletic Bilbao is on a 10-game unbeaten run heading into Sunday's match against Granada, which was on the verge of a second victory in three games against Mallorca before a fan's umbrella hit a referee in the cheek to force the game to be abandoned.
Bilbao center back Jonas Ramalho is expected to remain in the squad after debuting in the victory against Sevilla. The teenager is the first black player to feature for the club, which has fielded only those born in the Basque region since its inception in 1898.
Bilbao is one point behind sixth-place Sevilla and a Europa League qualifying place, with the Andalucians looking to end a five-game winless run at Zaragoza on Sunday.
Malaga has won three of four matches to sit fifth, three points behind Levante and the last Champions League qualifying place. Malaga plays Villarreal on Monday while Levante hopes to end a three-game losing streak when it plays Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
In other games this weekend, Mallorca plays Racing Santander, Espanyol hosts Osasuna and Real Betis looks for its first win in eight games against last-place Real Sociedad.
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