For both Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, it was clear before the 232nd Derbi Madrileño that a win was needed: for the royals, so as not to lose further ground on leaders FC Barcelona in the fight for the championship – for Atlético, for the until then to polish up a somewhat botched season after leaving all cup competitions.
The two city rivals started with an offensive game and had their first chances early on. Marco Asensio fired a shot as a flutter ball at Jan Oblak, but Atlético’s keeper reacted quickly and made a good save (10′). At the other end, Yannick Carrasco kept making good moves for the Rojiblancos, his best being a flick from almost 20 yards inside the left position, which Thibaut Courtois was also able to punch away safely (22′).
Vinícius Júnior once again made a name for himself with the Royals, who repeatedly shook the right side of the Colchoneros with his fast dribbling. What was missing were the mandatory shots, not least due to the good performance of the Atlético defense around defense chief Stefan Savić, who was able to stop Vinícius Júnior twice: once by tackling in the last second (24th) and again shortly before the break in a one-on-one at the sixteen (43rd).
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The match came to a head in the second half. Atlético revived the attack with Ángel Correa and had a good chance shortly after the restart. Saúl was played completely free on the penalty area, but the Spaniard missed the ball (47′).
However, Real then increased the pressure. Karim Benzema and Federico Valverde lacked decisive luck in promising scenes in the penalty area (50th/53rd). Atlético still remained dangerous, Antoine Griezmann was blank after a nice assist from Carrasco and took measurements, but just missed the right corner of the goal (61st).
A little later the big excitement of the game. After substitute Ángel Correa elbowed Antonio Rüdiger, referee Jesús Gil Manzano uncompromisingly showed him the red card (64′). An unnecessary drop-out by Correa, who had been substituted on less than 20 minutes earlier, leaving his team outnumbered for almost 30 minutes.
However, this minority awakened unexpected forces in the Colchoneros, who remained offensive. A standard situation then provided the big surprise. José Giménez headed a Griezmann free-kick into the net and put the visitors 1-0 up (78′). A major setback for Real Madrid, who had been superior up to that point, then made another offensive move and threw everything forward.
Álvaro Rodriguez, who also came on as a substitute, finally saved the Whites from the impending defeat with a header after a corner kick from Luka Modrić (85th).
The hosts continued to push for victory in the final minutes, but the Atlético defense and the experienced Oblak simply couldn’t be overcome. In the end there is a performance-related draw, with which Diego Simeone and Atlético can certainly live much better than Real Madrid.
The tweet about the game:
“Even in Madrid”. A header duel as a symbol for this game – hard fought, two hits per head in the final phase and a game in which both opponents had calculated more in the meantime.
That was noticeable: Referee Manzano’s hard line
For a derby between two city rivals, the game was surprisingly fair overall, with comparatively few fouls and a high flow of play. Referee Manzano still grabbed a whopping seven times in his pocket. The referee pulled out a total of six yellow cards and one red card.
The statistics: 19
Substitute Ángel Correa was only on the pitch for around 19 minutes before being sent off in the 64th minute after an elbow hit Antonio Rüdgier. An unnecessary action by the Argentine. Ironically, however, being outnumbered seemed to give his team new morale.
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