Real Madrid missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga to four points after they salvaged a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby on Saturday evening.
LALIGA
Result: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Date: 08 February 2025
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
Los Blancos remained largely the same from the narrow defeat against Espanyol last weekend, as Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior led the attack.
Atletico, on the other hand, preferred Antoine Griezmann over Alexander Sorloth to partner Julian Alverez up top.
The opening exchanges had a lot of turnovers as Samuel Lino, with 15 minutes on the clock, came close to giving Los Rojiblancos the lead with a strike that flashed wide after a mistake by Jude Bellingham.
In a highly-charged affair, Diego Simeone's charges were eventually awarded a penalty just after the half-hour mark after Aurelien Tchouameni was deemed to have stamped on Lino in the box.
Alvarez stepped up and broke the deadlock for Atletico with a confident spot-kick down the middle and Simeone's men held on to their narrow lead heading into the interval.
Carlo Ancelotti's troops had an ideal start in the second stanza as Mbappe levelled matters with a strike from a rebound in the box.
Los Blancos were unfortunate not to make it 2-1 a moment later after Bellingham had a header that came off the crossbar from a cross by Vinicius Junior.
Real kept on coming and shortly before the hour-mark, Bellingham threatened with a glancing header at the near post that found goalkeeper Jan Oblak alert, who made the save just on the line.
With the game on the edge in the last ten minutes, the Italian tactician made a double change, as Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga both came on for Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez for fresh legs.
However, neither side was willing to take unnecessary risks in the dying minutes and the game ended all square.
Los Blancos remained one point ahead of second-placed Atletico at the top of the table.
Here's how they line up:
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vazquez, Tchouameni, Asencio, Fran Garcia, Ceballos, Valverde, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Javi Galan, Gimenez, Lenglet, Llorente, Barrios, De Paul, Giulano, Lino, Alvarez, Griezmann
