Diego Simeone has enjoyed notable triumphs at Real Madrid’s expense during his historic tenure in charge of Atletico Madrid.
Just not in the Champions League.
Atleti are ahead of their neighbours in a three-pronged title race in LaLiga this season, but they have never knocked Los Blancos out of Europe’s premier competition.
Every meeting between the capital clubs on this stage since 1959 has come with Simeone in the Atletico dugout. The final defeats of 2014 and 2016 were the most painful, although respective quarterfinal and semifinal exits the in the years after those moments of heartbreak were not much easier to stomach.
In many ways, knocking Madrid out of the Champions League feels like Simeone’s final frontier. With the second leg to come on home turf, can they take a huge step towards that tonight?
The Jugo Mobile is following the Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid match live, providing score updates and commentary
Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | Where to watch where you are
Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid score
| Pregame | Goalscorers | |
| Madrid | — | |
| Atletico | — |
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, MadridReferee: Clement Turpin (France)
Lineups:
Real Madrid (4-2-1-3, right to left): Courtois (GK) — Valverde, Rudiger, Asencio, Mendy — Tchouameni, Camavinga — Brahim — Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2, right to left): Oblak (GK) — Llorente, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan — Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Lino — Griezmann, Alvarez
Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid live updates, highlights, and commentary
50 mins before kickoff: Federico Valverde and Marcos Llorente are stalwarts for their respective Madrid clubs and midfielders any club would be proud to call their own. The problem is, they’ve each proved themselves to be so good as emergency right-backs that they’re now indispensable there. They’re that meme about accidentally becoming really important at work, played out on the Champions League stage. Valverde was arguably Madrid’s best player across the two legs against Manchester City, while Llorente popped up with a vital goal for Atleti in last week’s crazy 4-4 draw at Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinals.
1 hr 10 mins before kickoff: Here’s the Atletico XI, with Alvarez partnering Griezmann up front as expected.
? TEAM NEWS ? pic.twitter.com/UDMsoL2ogB
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 4, 2025
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: There has been nothing to separate the Madrid teams in La Liga this season. Angel Correa scored an equaliser deep into stoppage time to salvage a draw for Atleti at the Metropolitano last September, while Kylian Mbappe’s goal earlier in the second half cancelled out Julian Alvarez’s penalty at the Bernabeu last month.
1 hr 50 mins before kickoff: Huge Champions League night. Here’s Carlo jumping the gun as per. It looks like Brahim Diaz will play as the No. 10, operating as a direct replacement for the suspended Jude Bellingham.
?✅ Our starting XI!? @AtletiEnglish pic.twitter.com/tgCWqX7ssM
— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) March 4, 2025
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Jugo Mobile’ live coverage of Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid. El Derbi on the Champions League stage. It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid kick off time
The Champions League match kicks off in Madrid at 9 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Tue, Mar 4 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Tue, Mar 4 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| UK | Tue, Mar 4 | 8:00 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Wed, Mar 5 | 7:00 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Wed, Mar 5 | 1:30 a.m. IST |
Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid lineups, team news
Jude Bellingham’s booking in the second leg of Madrid’s 6-3 aggregate triumph over Manchester City in the knockout playoffs rules him out of this one. Brahim Diaz as a like-for-like No. 10 replacement, having opened the scoring in the 2-1 weekend defeat at Real Betis.
Eduardo Camavinga and Auerlien Tchouameni will provide the midfield insurance behind Brahim and Madrid’s fabled front three of Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, who are all present and correct.
Federico Valverde starts again at right-back, with Lucas Vazquez on the bench alongside David Alaba as Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio resume their partnership at centre-back.
Real Madrid (4-2-1-3, right to left): Courtois (GK) — Valverde, Rudiger, Asencio, Mendy — Tchouameni, Camavinga — Diaz — Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Real Madrid subs: Lunin (GK), Fran Gonzalez, Alaba, Modric, Guler, Endrick, Vazquez, Fran Garcia
Cesar Azpilicueta is out with a leg problem, meaning injuries to experienced defenders are something that cross the Madrid divide.
At centre-back, Clement Lenglet gets the nod over Robin Le Normand to partner Jose Maria Gimenez.
Julian Alvarez came off the bench to score the winner against Athletic Club at the weekend and replaces Alexander Sorloth alongside Antoine Griezmann up front.
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2, right to left): Oblak (GK) — Llorente, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan — Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Lino — Griezmann, Alvarez
Atletico Madrid subs: Musso (GK), Antonio Gomis, Gallagher, Sorloth, Correa, Lemar, Molina, Riquelme, Witsel, Reinildo, Le Normand
Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
