Spanish football, aka La Liga, was set for an exciting showdown this weekend as Atletico Madrid faced off against Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid in a pivotal derby at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid headed into the contest sitting in second place in the La Liga standings and had shown great determination this season. In contrast, Real Madrid, despite being the table-toppers, had struggled with inconsistency.
Real Madrid faced troubles with key defenders like Antonio Rudiger and Dani Carvajal absent from the lineup. Speculation regarding a lack of cohesion among the players had also arisen. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid were capable of punching above their weights when necessary and appeared fully committed to claiming the top spot.
Julian Alvarez's Panenka gives Atletico Madrid the lead
The match started with both teams sharing a decent percentage of possession. Despite many buildups, neither of the two teams failed to break the deadlock in the first half an hour.
In the 33rd minute, Atletico Madrid finally got the opportunity to break the deadlock, as the referee called in for a penalty. Referee César Soto Grado went over to the VAR screen for a possible penalty. It was the challenge from Tchouameni on Lino. Although it looked very, very soft, with minimal contact from the Frenchman following through on Lino, Atletico got the chance to take the lead. Julian Alvarez made no mistake from 12 yards. A cute dinked effort down the middle went past Courtois.
Though Real Madrid dominated a fair share of possession; they failed to build a fruitful attack and breach the defence of Atletico Madrid. Atletico held onto their lead in the first half as both teams headed towards the tunnel for a short break.
Also read: 'I'll watch...' Hansi Flick asserts he is going to keep an eye on the Madrid derby
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