Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid had to settle for a draw against Atletico Madrid for the second time this season as the two city rivals played out a 1-1 stalemate at the Santiago Bernabeu on matchday 23 of La Liga.

The derby started with barely any notable action in the first 30 minutes of kick-off as both sides looked stable. The Merengues dominated the lion’s share of the ball but were unable to do anything against a stubborn Atleti backline while the visitors were happy to absorb the pressure and only play on the counter.

About half an hour into the game, Aurelien Tchouameni tripped Samuel Lino in the Real Madrid box and the referee, Cesar Soto, was called to have a look at the VAR monitor for a potential penalty. After a check with his assistants, a spot-kick was awarded to Diego Simeone’s side, causing heavy controversy.

Lino ran into Tchouameni and went down with neither player within close quarters of the ball, and there were no loud appeals from the Atletico players either. Anyway, the penalty was dispatched with nonchalant ease by Julian Alvarez, who gave the away side a lead with a Panenka down the middle in the 35th minute from their only shot on target throughout the game.

For the 10 minutes of the second period after scoring the opener, Atletico simply sat back and looked to go into the break with a goal’s advantage to their name. Los Blancos also played a conservative brand of football and seemed happy to go into the break with only a narrow deficit, especially as the atmosphere in the stadium was incandescent after the referee’s controversial call.

The second half saw the Whites put in a lot more spirited display as they regrouped following the break and put their best foot forward. Chances followed right from the word go and it took only five minutes into the restart for the hosts to restore parity. Kylian Mbappe finished off a chance wonderfully created by Rodrygo Goes, after pouncing onto a loose ball following Jude Bellingham’s missed shot.

In the 40 minutes plus stoppage time that followed, it was all Real Madrid, who were denied by a brilliant but very familiar display in between the sticks by Atletico’s goalkeeper, Jan Oblak. The Slovenian almost single-handedly denied the hosts from coming away with all three points and ensured that the gap on top of the league standings between the two crosstown sides remained at a single point.

Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged that he and his Real Madrid side take away a lot of confidence from the second half of the match heading into the Champions League play-off against Manchester City, the first leg of which they face on Tuesday, February 11th, at the Etihad Stadium.