Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid: Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz on target as Los Blancos put one foot in Champions League quarter-final | OneFootball

Real Madrid secured a 2-1 triumph over Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Santiago Bernabeu.

The reigning European champions saw off Manchester City in the playoffs to book an all-Madrid tie against their city rivals.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men needed an instant response to Saturday’s defeat against Real Betis and flew out of the blocks with a fourth-minute opener through Rodrygo.

Buoyed by their fast start, Madrid remained in the ascendancy and were keen to build on their advantage against an Atletico side who were not up to full speed in the opening exchanges.

Diego Simeone’s men had their first attempt in the 17th minute courtesy of Giuliano Simeone, who, however, scoffed his attempt from a set-piece situation.

The visitors were beginning to grow into the contest as it progressed, but Vinicius Junior had the next real sight of goal, calling Jan Oblak into action midway through the first half.

The game settled into a more pedestrian affair over the next 10 minutes before the half’s most enthralling moment got Atletico back on level terms following Julian Alvarez’s wonder strike from a seemingly impossible angle.

That was the final moment of note in the first half which left both teams finely poised for the second 45 minutes ahead of next week’s return leg.

Largely a peripheral figure in the first half, Kylian Mbappe took his first crack at Oblak’s goal in the early knockings of the second period, albeit with little threat posed.

In keeping with their flying start to the opening half, Madrid were back in front within 10 minutes of the restart thanks to Brahim Diaz, who showed great feet in the box to skip past a couple of challenges before finding the far corner.

Seeking to restore parity for the second time, Atletico intensified their attacking impetus and came close to hitting back on the hour mark but for a fine stop from Thibaut Courtois to deny Antoine Griezmann.

Having watched his teammate find the back of the net with his weaker foot moments earlier, Ferland Mendy tested Oblak from range with a right-footed drive which was comfortably dealt with by the Slovenian.

With time running out, Diego Simeone exhausted all his substitution opportunities by throwing on five new players in the span of 10 minutes.

Nonetheless, Madrid came closest to grabbing the fourth goal of the tie in second-half stoppage time when Luka Modric stung the palms of Oblak late on.

Real Madrid were the better team overall and deservingly secured a narrow advantage to take to the Wanda Metropolitano for the second leg.

Away from their European commitments, Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in league action this weekend against Rayo Vallecano, while Atletico set out for three crucial points against Getafe.