by Tim Stannard

A win for Atletico Madrid in the Derby would see LaLiga's balance of power swinging to Diego Simeone's side

There are a million reasons for Atletico to come out on top in Saturday's Madrid derby to cement the club's unofficial title of LaLiga front runners this season. 

Well, there are about two really.

1) Atletico Madrid are much better than Real Madrid this season.

2) Atletico Madrid are unbeaten in 26 matches in LaLiga. 

But, there are quite a few reasons going in Real Madrid's favor as well. Zinedine Zidane is a manager who mostly gets results when he really, really has to, whether it be a Champions League final, or a remarkable stretch of of grinding victories to win the most recent LaLiga title. Or saving his job, as over the past two matches. 

Atletico Madrid have failed to win any of their last eight games in LaLiga against Real Madrid and the last time at the Rojiblancos lost in LaLiga, it was back on February 1st 2020. 

Against Real Madrid. 

1-0. 

All of these factors are very much at the front of Koke's mind on Friday with the Atletico midfielder telling AS that "everyone seems to talk badly about them, but then they are up there and fighting for all the titles."

Saturday's derby is very much LaLiga's tipping point. A victory for Real Madrid sees traditional order restored and the gap to Atletico being cut to just three points. A draw and it's as you were with Atletico still in charge. 

A win for Atleti in Real's temporary home would put the Simeone's side nine points clear of their city rivals with one match in hand to play. 

That would be an immediate change in priorities for Koke's crew to the instructions given at the beginning of each season. "The club gives us an objective, which is to get into the Champions League and after we have an internal goal, of course," admitted the Spanish international.

That goal would be to break up the Barcelona / Real Madrid monopoly in LaLiga for only the second time since 2004, by repeating Atletico's title win from 2014.

The Madrid Derby is live on beIN SPORTS on Saturday from 2:30PM and the build up continues today with the Sports Burst live show at 12PM ET on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page. 

Real Madrid lead chase for Alaba signing

Some good news for Friday in a world not exactly bursting with glad tidings. The next soccer transfer window opens up early January in Europe and a chance for fans to dream of season-saving, or title-winning signings. 

Except Barcelona supporters probably. 

Sorry. 

Real Madrid are tipped to begin negotiations for a summer move for Bayern Munich's David Alaba. The versatile defender / midfielder / pretty much anywhere player has failed to agree terms on a contract extension with the German club and will be free next summer. 

However, there is expected to be competition from both Chelsea and PSG for the 28-year-old Austrian's signing.

Meanwhile, the rumors are warming once again of Dele Alli joining PSG on loan in the winter window. The English playmaker has only started one Premier League game this season and it's unlikely that there will be many more considering Spurs are top of the table without his services. 

Alli was an unused substitute in the Europa League on Thursday night and Jose Mourinho admitted that "it's an impossible job to keep every player happy." 

Is Claude Puel latest for Ligue 1 chop?

Thursday night saw the final of the three Copa Libertadores quarterfinal first legs being played this week. River Plate will take a very handy 2-0 lead over the Rio de la Plata to face Uruguay's Nacional next Thursday. 

Looking forward now and the latest round of LaLiga gets underway on Friday on beIN SPORTS Espanol from 2:50PM ET and it's a relegation six-pointer - although three points are technically up for grabs - as two bottom-dwellers, Valladolid and Osasuna, face off in a tense affair. 

Ligue 1 graces beIN SPORTS with another coach facing Le Chop. Patrick Vieira and Christian Gourcuff were recently dispatched by Nice and Nantes respectively. The next high-profile manager facing the league's metaphorical guillotine is  Claude Puel, whose Saint Etienne side has just the one win in 11.  

Puel and co will need to master some Angers management on beIN SPORTS from 2:50PM ET.