Fernando Torres’ side Atletico Madrid have the perfect chance to get a place in next Cup round after Sunday’s La Liga defeat at Barcelona. Red-and-whites face their King’s Cup last 16, second leg at local rivals Real Madrid on Thursday.

The Madrid-born striker returns to Santiago Bernabéu six years after his last game played at city rivals' Stadium, when Liverpool won 0-1 getting advantage in first leg of last-16 Champions League round.

Atletico brings also a 2-0 advantage over the holders from last week’s first leg at the Calderon and knocking Real out of the competition would mark the latest triumph for the Spanish capital’s second club over their neighbours.

Diego Simeone’s men beat Real to win the Spanish Super Cup in August and followed up with a 2-1 success at the Bernabeu in La Liga in September.

The winners of the tie will almost certainly meet Barca in the quarter-finals as the record winners have a 5-0 advantage ahead of their second leg at Elche on Thursday.

Real, the European and world champions, bounced back from the consecutive defeats with a 3-0 La Liga victory at home to Espanyol on Saturday.

Clubs often use the Cup to give second-string players a chance to shine but facing this crucial game is expected to field the strongest possible side.

“The best team will play because we will try to turn the tie around and do all we can to get to the quarter-finals,” added the Italian, who led Real to Champions League and King’s Cup triumphs in his first season in charge in 2013-14.