After FC Barcelona unexpectedly lost to Osasuna Pamplona 2-4 on Saturday, its biggest rivals in the fight for the Spanish championship had a chance to get in touch with it on Sunday. However, Atletico and Real Madrid faced each other in the Madrid derby at the Estadio Metropolitano and only one of these teams could reduce the deficit by three points. The guests from Santiago Bernabeu entered this match weakened by the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe, so Vinicius Junior or Jude Bellingham had to take matters into their own hands.
Real has already welcomed the goose! A goal in the 95th minute decided the result of the Madrid derby
Was it so? Atletico created the first chance in the match in the 9th minute when, after an individual action by Julian Alvarez, the Argentine's shot from a sharp angle was saved by Thibaut Courtois. After a quarter of an hour, Real responded with a powerful long-range shot by Federico Valverde, after which Jan Oblak made a very good intervention.
In this even match, Real had a bit more of an advantage before the break. Another long-distance shot by Valverde, this time from a free kick, passed the Los Colchoneros goal, Jude Bellingham's attempt from 16 meters could not cause any problems for Oblak, and when, after a set piece, the ball fell on the head of Dani, who was positioned five meters in front of the goal Carvajal, the Spaniard's shot was blocked.
It was 0-0 until the break, and after the change of sides, Atletico looked better, but it only ended with Julian Alvarez blocking a shot from a dozen or so meters. In the later phase, Real Madrid, which was not good at constructing offensive actions, focused on using set pieces, with which the “Royal” were sometimes able to surprise the hosts' defense.
It started in the 51st minute when, after Luka Modric's pass, the unattended Rodrygo had a great chance, but he shot from 16 meters above the goal.
It was a warning for Diego Simeone's team, but it did not work and in the 64th minute, Real already opened the scoring after a well-taken free kick. After Modric's pass and Vinicius Jr's cross, the ball flew over the heads of the players jumping to shoot with that part of their body and fell at the feet of Eder Militao. The Brazilian defeated Jan Oblak with a strong shot after a ricochet and it was 1-0 for the guests.
After a few minutes, a scandal broke out – angry Atletico Madrid fans started throwing objects, including: lighter towards Thibaut Courtois. Referee Busquets Ferrer, who was officiating such a match for the first time, saw that the practice was ongoing and decided to interrupt the match for over 15 minutes.
Just after the game was resumed, Vinicius Jr was close to increasing the score. After an individual action, he fired a surprising shot from 19 meters, after which Oblak made a great intervention. Atletico was close to equalizing in the 82nd minute when, after an individual action, Samuel Lino shot under the crossbar of Courtois' goal, but this time it was the Belgian who did great in the “Royal's” goal.
In the following minutes, during Real's counterattack, Endrick shot wide from distance. In response, Antoine Griezmann shot a free kick just over the crossbar. At the end, Real defended with its entire team, and Carlo Ancelotti had as many as six nominal defenders on the pitch.
However, even this did not prevent the Royals from losing the equalizing goal when, in the fifth minute of added time, as a substitute, after a pass from Javi Galan, Angel Correa went one-on-one with Courtois and passed the Belgian with an impressive feint into the empty net. The referees initially signaled an offside, but VAR's intervention made the stands at the Metropolitano erupt with joy. The goal was allowed and Atletico equalized.
However, this was not the last accent of this match, because in one of the last actions of the match, after a brutal foul on Fran Garcia and VAR intervention, Marcos Llorente received a direct red card. However, the Spaniard was lucky because the result in Madrid did not change.
Atletico Madrid drew with Real Madrid 1-1, which means that the only winner of the derby is actually FC Barcelona, ​​which, despite the defeat against Osasuna, lost only a point of advantage over its most dangerous rivals in the fight for the Spanish championship. Real is currently three points behind and Atletico is five points behind.