Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday night (February 4), with Marcos Llorente scoring the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage-time.
With Girona dropping points earlier in the weekend, Los Blancos missed a good opportunity to widen the gap at the top and remained just two points clear.
Real Madrid came flying out of the block and put Atletico under pressure with a series of attacks before Brahim Diaz finally broke the deadlock at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 20th minute.
Lucas Vazquez found himself in a good position inside the box and he cut it back to Jude Bellingham. Koke intercepted and hooked the ball away, but it came straight to Diaz, who fired home to make it 1-0.
Atletico nearly pulled off an instant response, with Antoine Griezmann sending in a lovely corner, which Stefan Savic got a head to, but the ball flew narrowly wide of the target.
In the 48th minute, Los Rojiblancos even had the ball in the back of the net, with Griezmann sending another corner in for Savic, who buried it home this time. But it was ruled out after Saul was adjudged to have blocked Andriy Lunin’s vision.
At the other end, Los Blancos saw a few of their shots thwarted by Jan Oblak, as a win was almost sealed. But in stoppage time, Atletico’s persistence paid off, as Savic sent a long ball in for Memphis Depay to flick it on for Llorente, who headed it beyond Lunin.
A smash-and-grab point for Atletico, who remained in fourth place, but more importantly, the draw kept their city rivals from pulling further clear at the top as the La Liga title race remained on knife’s edge.
Here are the player ratings for Real Madrid:
Andriy Lunin – 6.5/10
He made four saves in the game to keep out Atletico and nearly pulled off a clean sheet until Llorente scored for the visitors in stoppage time.
Lucas Vazquez – 7/10
The Spaniard got forward well and gave Atletico’s defenders plenty to think about. He created their opening goal too cutting it back across into the box, which the visitors failed to clear, before it fell for Diaz to power home.
Defensively too, Vazquez made a telling impact with four clearances and winning seven ground duels.
Daniel Carvajal – 7/10
Starting in a rather unfamiliar centre-back position, Carvajal didn’t look out of place even once. The Spaniard kept his cool during tough moments and showed tremendous resistance to Atletico’s offensive movements.
He made four clearances and three tackles while completing 96 percent of his passes.
Nacho – 6/10
With eight clearances in the match, Nacho certainly was instrumental in keeping everything kosher in defense. But he could’ve done better for Atletico’s equalizer, as he let Llorente have a free header for Depay’s flick-on.
Ferland Mendy – 6.5/10
A resolute figure in Real Madrid’s defense, Mendy held the fort well for Los Blancos and made a few good runs to join up their attack whenever he got the chance.
Federico Valverde – 7/10
Valverde showed nice touches, dragged Atletico players around with his energy, and carried the ball forward on occasions.
Toni Kroos – 8/10
The midfield maestro was at it again, dictating tempo from the deep and sending in some inviting long balls to get his side on the attacking foot. He also completed 96 of his 103 passes (93 percent success rate) and laid three key passes.
Eduardo Camavinga – 7/10
Industrious, energetic, and purposeful, Real MAdrid’s Camavinga quietly had a good night against their city rivals. He always sought to impede Atletico’s movements and sprayed inch-perfect passes all around the field.
Jude Bellingham – 8/10
No goals for Bellingham but that doesn’t imply a poor game as he was a creative inspiration for his side, creating four chances. The Englishman also completed 91 percent of his passes, and played a key role in winning back possession, with seven ground duels won.
Brahim Diaz – 8.5/10
He came into the starting lineup at the last minute when Vinicius Junior pulled out with an injury and made it count with a goal just 20 minutes into the kick-off. The midfielder was a big threat for Atletico’s defense and offered a creative spark for the hosts, laying three key passes.
Rodrygo – 6.5/10
The Brazilian was a peripheral figure in Real Madrid’s attack, looking isolated on the left. In one good chance after the hour mark, Rodrygo saw his powerful effort directed straight at Jan Oblak, who produced strong hands to save it.
SUBSTITUTES
Joselu (71′ for Diaz) – 7/10
A good attacking presence but couldn’t follow up his two-goal heroics from the midweek with anything meaningful in the Madrid derby.
Luka Modric (76′ for Rodrygo) – 6.5/10
The Croatian veteran laid some fine passes after coming on.
Dani Ceballos (88′ for Bellingham) – N/A
He came on late to merely see the game off.
Thank You!
