4782 days

30th October 1999: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink fires in two goals to help Atlético beat Real Madrid 1-3 at the Bernabeu. Claudio Ranieri celebrates on the Atlético bench while unused teenage sub Samuel Eto'o looks on from the Real Madrid dugout.

Ranieri, however, would not see the season out - and neither would his successor, Raddy Antic, as Atlético ended the season relegated to the Second Division, in a year that Deportivo won their first and to this day only Liga title. Madrid on their part finished back in 5th place, but still went on to beat Valencia 3-0 and lift the European Cup.

Atlético haven't beaten Real Madrid in a Liga derby since.

But never since that day have Atlético reached a derby in a position as favourable position as the one they're in today, Despite their lack of Liga success, Atlético have lifted 4 international trophies in the past 3 seasons. They finally appear to have carried that form over to the domestic league, and reach the derby holding an 8-point lead in the table over their out-of-sorts cross-city rivals and just 3 behind current leaders Barcelona.

Real Madrid meantime look to have lost the drive that led them to wrestle the title off Barcelona only 6 months ago. Their latest league defeat away to Betis, coupled with earlier ones to Getafe and Sevilla, have them floundering 11 points off the title pace. Throw in some lacklustre CL performances, and Mourinho is under fire like never before. In their cup fixture earlier this week, the club's radical UltraSur fans attempted to show their support by chanting the Portuguese manager's name ... only to be booed down by large sections of the crowd.

After going through his usual litany of excuses and accusations aimed at the refs, the schedule, Barcelona, his own club and the odd journalist, and amid the rumours of his return of his return to the PL that invariably surface every time he looks to be in trouble at Madrid, Mourinho has invited anyone who wishes to boo him to be there 10 minutes before kick-off tonight. Unlikely that many will right before a derby, but you can bet your bottom penny that the majority will be doing making themselves heard less than 2 hours later if los merengues have suffered their 4th Liga defeat and fallen 14-points behind Barça (providing the Catalans have already collected another 3 points in their home clash against Athletic Bilbao).

Could today be the day they break their 13-year duck and finally be considered serious title contenders?
Could it spell the beginning of the end of Jose Mourinho's days at Real Madrid?