Real Madrid have gained a slight advantage over city rivals Atletico Madrid, following a 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
The viewers of the game were treated to three fantastic goals, the first being the work of Rodrygo Goes in the fourth minute, handing Real an early lead. Atletico struck back through Julian Alvarez in the 32nd, but the final score was set by Brahim Diaz in the 55th.
Teams
Carlo Ancelotti in the home dugout was without five players for this huge clash: defenders Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal (both knee), and Jesus Vallejo (thigh), and midfielders Dani Ceballos (leg) and Jude Bellingham (yellow-card suspension).
Thibaut Courtois was in goal. Fede Valverde was touch-and-go before the game, but the Uruguayan recovered in time to step in at the right defensive flank, while Ferland Mendy covered the left, and the pair of Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio took up their places in the heart of defence. Aurelien Tchouameni paired up with Eduardo Camavinga in the middle of the park, with Brahim Diaz replacing Bellingham in a more advanced role. Rodrygo Goes, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior formed Real’s usual, very fluid, attacking line.
Meanwhile, Atleti boss Diego Simeone wasn’t able to call upon veteran midfielder Koke (leg), as well as defender Cesar Azpilicueta (leg).
The Rojiblancos were arranged in a traditionally compact 4-4-2 shape, with Javi Galan, Clement Lenglet, Jose Maria Gimenez and former Real man Marcos Llorente forming the defensive wall in front of goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Pablo Barrios joined Rodrigo De Paul in the middle of the park, flanked by Samuel Lino and Giuliano Simeone. In attack, Antoine Griezmann was joined by Julian Alvarez.
Game recap
The hosts started brightly, taking the lead through Rodrygo after a superb Valverde pass. The Brazilian controlled it in stride, burst into the box past two defenders, and curled a brilliant left-footed strike into the far corner.
Despite Real’s early dominance, Atletico managed to disrupt their rhythm by slowing the game’s pace and began creating chances through Lino and Giuliano Simeone, who consistently threatened down the flanks.
Atletico found their equalizer when Alvarez forced his way past Eduardo Camavinga on the left byline, cut inside and curled a shot past Thibaut Courtois, striking the far post on its way in. The shot was technically perfect, hit from a tight angle with such accuracy that Courtois couldn’t get anywhere near its path.
The visitors then controlled possession, confidently passing the ball around amid loud jeers from the packed Bernabeu crowd, who grew frustrated with their team’s struggles.
Atleti started the second half well, with De Paul missing a key opportunity to put them ahead in the 53rd minute – a costly miss, as two minutes later, Brahim produced a moment of brilliance to restore Real’s lead.
Surrounded by three defenders, the Moroccan created space with quick footwork, leaving Gimenez on the ground before calmly slotting the ball into the far corner, with Oblak left helpless.
Diego Simeone was seemingly content with the narrow deficit, replacing Antoine Griezmann with center-back Robin Le Normand and switching to a five-man defense to ensure Real’s lead remained manageable ahead of next week’s highly anticipated second leg. He did, however, send forwards Alexander Sorloth and Angel Correa into the fray soon after, but with no tangible result.
Reactions
Real boss Ancelotti was perfectly aware that his team struggled against the Rojiblancos, but he warned that it would be even harder at the Wanda Metropolitano next week.
“If it was difficult today, imagine how difficult it will be on Wednesday,” he told the press after the game.
“But we have a small advantage, and we’ll try to go through. It will be difficult, not much will change.”
As for Simeone, he was happy with the performance his players had put in, if not quite with the outcome of the match.
“It isn’t a good result. We were looking to draw or win,” he said.
“I feel the team competed well. I think we could have done more with the two goals we conceded. The team is competing. From Sunday, we’ll start to think about the return leg, which will be tough, but we play at our stadium with our fans.
“Our fans push us, they give us energy, we’ll need our fans on Wednesday.”
Both sides, of course, have domestic tasks to cope with before the second leg, with Real hosting Rayo Vallecano and Atletico traveling to face Getafe on Sunday.
