Real Madrid visit Atletico de Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano and they desperately need the three points if they want to fight for the 2017-18 La Liga title. They are already eight points behind Barcelona after just two months of competition and they simply can’t afford to drop more points this early. Here are three keys to a Real Madrid win in tonight’s Madrid Derby.

1. Individual performances must be better. While it’s clear that Real Madrid’s overall playing hasn’t been good so far, some players just simply need to take it personal and start performing better individually. Marcelo, Kroos, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo come to mind first and if they bring their A game Real Madrid will have a much better chance of beating Atletico.
2. Zidane has to make good decisions with his bench players. Crossing the ball is not going to work against Godin and Oblak, so Lucas Vazquez won’t be helpful in this game. If Madrid need to change the course of the game through their bench players, Asensio and Ceballos should be used ahead of Vazquez.
3. Set pieces. Real Madrid fairly much header their way to a La Liga-Champions League brace last year by scoring crucial goals off set pieces. Sergio Ramos has been kept under control by Real’s rivals and this would be a nice opportunity for Madrid to turn things around and start imposing their will on set pieces again.

HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA

Date: 11/18/2017

Time: 20:45 CET, 02:45pm EST, 11:45am Pacific.

Venue: Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain.

Available TV: BeIN Sports (USA), Sky Sports Football (UK), Movistar Partidazo (Spain).

Available Streaming: BeIN Sports (USA), Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a summer discount for new members and Managing Madrid readers).