James, ready to return to play the derby against Atlético de Madrid

[Akrapovic]

This Saturday will be played the great game of the date in the League of Spain.

James Rodríguez's first official match with Real Madrid was a classic against Atlético. On August 9, 2014, the coach of the white club at that time, Carlo Ancelotti, took him to the bank that day, but in the middle of the game he sent him to the field, replacing Cristiano Ronaldo. That same day he scored his first goal. It was a great start.

Now, James lives a second start at the club, after returning from a two-year loan at Bayern Munich, and after a European summer full of rumors that placed him anywhere, except in Madrid. It even rang for the team that this Saturday will have at the forefront as a rival. The game will be seen by Directv Sports, starting at 2 p.m.

James has played nine games against Atlético (three in the League, two in the Spanish Super Cup, two in the Copa del Rey and two in the Champions League). He only scored one goal, the day of his debut.

Curiously, of those nine games, seven played them in his first season, in which he had as coach the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the coach who gave him more game and took more advantage. With Rafa Benítez he did not even go to the bank, and Zinedine Zidane sent him twice to the list of emerging, among them, one in which he began to break the idyll with the white club: the final of the Champions League, on the 28th of May 2016, in Milan (Italy). There was even a match, on November 14, 2016, in which he entered again for CR7, but this time for the applause of the public to the Portuguese, who had scored all three goals that day, in the 0-3 win.

Things seem to be different now for James, who went from fixed discard to key piece in the team, thanks to his good level and his sacrifice, but also to some injuries that opened him field, such as those of Marco Asensio (the most serious) and Isco.

“I think a lot of people knew that my wish was to be here. With the support of mister, as he is doing now, I think I can have a good season to get the important things. I have an optimal relationship with Zidane, ”James said after the most difficult moment of the season, the 3-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League.

If James looks happy, Zidane too. “The good ones are good and in the end James is one of us. We are 25 players and I think everyone wants to contribute something to the team, ”said the Frenchman.

The classic also has an additional ingredient: in the preseason, there was a confrontation in New Jersey (United States), which ended with Atlético's biggest win against Real Madrid in all history: 7-3, on a disastrous night white team

Zidane lowered that background. "It has nothing to do with it," he said Friday when asked about the issue. But the press insisted: “If it is the same question, I will answer the same. If we have seen that match? We have not seen anything. ”
James, so far, has responded. The match against Atlético will be key to your confidence.