The Madrid derby is always a special match but Saturday's edition carries more significance than most for Zinedine Zidane, for it will be his 300th game for Real Madrid; 227 as a player and 73 as coach.
Atletico arrive at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu knowing that they are the only team that has been able to beat him in the league on their home ground.Zidane is on his way to having a career on the bench as successful or more so than he did as a player.
He won the Champions League, taking the team from Rafa Benitez midway through the season and, apart from losing to the rojiblancos, was unbeaten in LaLiga for the rest of the 2015/16 campaign.
That painful defeat helped him to learn quickly on the job, and proof of it came as a result of that meeting; a historic streak of 40 games without losing, beating Barcelona's record, was the result.
Sevilla broke the run in the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and a third defeat in the league came against Valencia. In total, Real have only lost five games under Zidane, counting the Champions League tie against Wolfsburg in Germany and in the Copa del Rey match against Celta Vigo.
He earned more points than both Diego Simeone and Luis Enrique in the second half of last season, but it just wasn't enough to claw back Barcelona's lead.
Overall, his record as coach is magnificent; 73 games, 54 wins, 14 draws and just the five defeats already mentioned.Zidane arrived at Madrid as Florentino Perez's second galactico.
He played 227 games, but that team did not reach anywhere near the same numbers as now. He won 58% (131) of his matches as a player - (as a coach - 73%) - and lost 19%. Just 7% have been lost since he has been on the bench.
Better as a coachThe Frenchman scored 49 goals at Real Madrid, but left more of a mark for his technical details than his goals - as the volley at Hampden Park against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final would evidence.
He had, and has, a special relationship with the tournament, both as coach and player, and it has been present ever since that goal.
Frst as a player, then La Decima as an assistant to Carlo Ancelotti and finally the Undecima as coach himself.
It is more than likely that Zidane's results on the bench would not be the same without his playing career at the Bernabeu.
Firstly, he has been decisive because he knows and understands the demands of the club and its way of playing the game. Secondly, he knows better than anyone the needs and obligations of his staff.
He has connected with the team, which respected him from the first day for what he was, but also because he has continued to earn it.
