Atlético thwarts Real Madrid's blow to the League
Brahim, who came on for a 'Vini' who was injured in the warm-up, scored the Real Madrid goal and Llorente equalized in injury time for the red and whites.
MADRID, 4 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid tied (1-1) this Sunday on matchday 23 of LaLiga EA Sports 2023-2024, after an outstanding Brahim Díaz opened the scoring in the first half, while Marcos Llorente tied in injury time for the rojiblancos, frustrating the meringues' blow to the League, who already saw themselves with the three points.
In the least 'crazy' derby of the last month, Ancelotti's pupils saw their leadership weakened with the second league setback at the Santiago Bernabéu this season. When they had a solitary 1-0 victory in hand, the work of Brahim, Llorente tied, silencing the Madrid fiefdom, to maintain the 10-point distance with the meringues. The Madridistas remain two points above Girona, their rival next weekend, in the table.
As expected, Real Madrid began by commanding the ball and taking the initiative. The late entry of Brahim into the eleven, due to Vinícius's injury in the warm-up, gave the whites more mobility. When they had only run a few seconds, Bellingham, with many stripes without 'Vini', invented a 'tunnel' over Hermoso to enter the area, although he finished late and without space.
Atlético was not too uncomfortable, waiting for options, while the Madridistas, in Brahim's boots, enjoyed another chance from the front, at the hands of Oblak. The red and whites stretched at their first opportunity to put together a good play that Morata finished off first, although Lunin was attentive.
Despite Real Madrid's good work with the ball – 75% possession in the first 15 minutes – the first Real Madrid goal came after a series of errors and rebounds that a toned Brahim sent into the net. The Spanish-Moroccan found a ball almost in the small area after a pass from Lucas that was poorly rejected by the defense and, given the passivity of the Colchoneros defenders and the Slovenian goalkeeper, he easily opened the can. Ancelotti's men were rewarded for a good start.
A first goal to which Atlético de Madrid responded quickly with two very good chances from set pieces. The first, in the head of Witsel to the center of Riquelme that was saved by Lunin; and the second, Savic at the near post, somewhat wide. Thus, the duel entered into a kind of give and take from which the locals took advantage, with unsuccessful approaches from Bellingham and Rodrygo.
Atlético continued without fang or depth and 'Cholo' exchanged Riquelme and Saúl, who began to occupy the left lane, improving his team. Perhaps also to stop a Lucas Vázquez who is more active in attack than usual. Therefore, the only red and white chance in the final stretch of the first half came from their flank in the boots of Riquelme, but Rodrygo retreated just in time to avoid the tie before the break.
Simeone confirmed the change in system to 4-4-2, bringing on Molina for Riquelme. Atlético improved and quickly found the tie with Savic's shot from a corner taken by Griezmann. However, the red and white celebration suddenly cooled when the lineman called Sánchez Martínez to report an offside by Saúl. The assistant understood that the midfielder was hindering the white goalkeeper, according to the referee, who disallowed the goal.
The warning, with a lot of controversy, made Real Madrid forget the 'bird' after the break, with two good actions, in which, first, they asked for a penalty on Lucas Vázquez and Kroos, in the second, he tried a difficult volley centered on the Oblak's hands. The Bernabéu went against the referee for a fall by Bellingham in which he did not award a penalty, understanding that the collision with the Atlético defender was not enough.
In the last half hour of play the game broke down, and Real Madrid was able to kill the match with a couple of counterattacks. In the first Oblak stopped Rodrygo's shot and, before leaving the field for Joselu, Brahim dressed as a magician to construct a virtuoso play in the area, with a pipe included, although his threaded shot did not find the goal. The public saw him off standing, then trusting in a striker on a roll after his double in Getafe.
Atlético seemed to see a tie in the distance, without increasing the pressure despite being behind and perhaps thinking about the Cup semi-finals, but Griezmann's brilliant backheel put fear into the Bernabéu's body, which applauded the good reflex reaction of Lunin to avoid a tie. Ancelotti made a move and brought on Modric, who was already a starter in Getafe, to give freshness to the midfield.
The changes suited Ancelotti's men, who had a placid ending in their fiefdom, against an Atlético that forgot about the goal defended by the Ukrainian goalkeeper. However, when the game was dying, Llorente collected a delivery from Memphis Depay to finish, entering from the second line only to tie and leave the Bernabéu silent.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: REAL MADRID, 1 – ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 1. (1-0, at half-time).
–ALIGNMENTS.
REAL MADRID: Lunin; Lucas Vázquez, Carvajal, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos, Bellingham; Brahim (Joselu, min.71) and Rodrygo (Modric, min.76).
ATLÉTICO DE MADRID: Oblak; Llorente, Savic, Witsel, Hermoso, Riquelme (Molina, min.46); De Paul (Barrios, min.61), Koke (Ángel Correa, min.68), Saúl Ñíguez (Lino, min.61); Griezmann and Morata (Depay, min.61).
–GOALS:
1-0, min.20, Brahim Díaz.
1-1, min.93, Llorente.
–REFEREE: Sánchez Martínez (C. Murciano). He cautioned Saúl Ñíguez (min.37), Hermoso (min.38), Koke (min.82), Barrios (min.85) and Depay (min.96) at Atlético de Madrid.
–Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.