It was honours even in the 232nd El Derbi Madrileño, as Real Madrid fought back to snatch a 1-1 draw against rivals Atletico – though there truly were no winners on the night, with the result giving Barcelona the chance to open up a 10-point lead at the La Liga summit.
Real held an emotional pre-match tribute to club legend Amancio, who passed away earlier in the week, emerging from the tunnel wearing the Real idol’s famous number seven on their backs.
However, the Blancos failed to channel his spirit onto the pitch, and it was Atletico that started the better of the two sides.
In a foreshadowing of the visitors’ awkward relationship with authority that would develop later, they saw claims for a penalty waved away after Federico Valverde inadvertently handled the ball in the box.
In a half that lacked goalmouth action, it was only speculative efforts from distance that called both goalkeepers into action.
Firstly, Marco Asensio stung the palms of Jan Oblak with a dipping shot, and then Yannick Carrasco tested Thibaut Courtois, though both defences managed to get the ball clear on both occasions.
Diego Simeone would have been the more pleased of the two coaches going into HT goalless, as his side successfully stifled Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who had entered the fray after a 5-2 victory at Anfield in midweek.
On that occasion, the Galacticos battled back from 2-0 down with a superb second-half performance, and it was more of the same today as Los Blancos came out with much more attacking intent and aggression going forward.
However, for all their dominance, the home side couldn’t unlock a tightly wound Atletico defence.
The visitors also came close to breaking the deadlock when Antoine Griezmann was teed up on the edge of the box, but the Frenchman’s fizzing effort flashed just wide of the post.
Atleti were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark after Ángel Correa was shown a straight red card for what looked like an elbow into the midriff of Antonio Rüdiger.
Yet, despite playing with a man down, Simeone’s men took the lead after José María Giménez rose highest to nod Griezmann’s floated ball into the box, typifying a classic Atlético Madrid performance of grit and determination.
Knowing their grip on the La Liga trophy was quickly slipping away, Ancelotti’s side threw everything forward in search of an equaliser, and it duly arrived in the 85th minute through 18-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez, making him the second-youngest goalscorer in Real Madrid’s history, in what was his maiden appearance at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The hosts failed to find a winning goal though, in what is a big blow to their defence of the La Liga title.
