Carlo Ancelotti has admitted he hates playing against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side, as the two teams get set to meet three times in 25 days, starting with Wednesday’s Spanish Supercopa semi-final in Saudi Arabia.

The two Madrid rivals will first meet in Supercopa semi-final in Riyadh on Wednesday,  before they meet in the Copa del Rey round-of-16 on January 18, and in La Liga in the first week of February.

“The fixture list is what it is,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Tuesday, when asked about playing three Madrid derbies in quick succession.

“Personally I don’t like playing against Atlético, because they’re one of the best teams. It’s always difficult. But I think they’ll be thinking the same thing. We’re two very strong teams. The fans will enjoy the games.”

Atletico beat Real 3-1 last time both sides met, and Ancelotti hasn’t forgotten that defeat – the only time Madrid have lost a game this season.

“In the last game we played, they hurt us a lot,” Ancelotti said. “It looks like we’ve fixed things [since then]. Tomorrow we can bring a better version than the one we did earlier this season.”