Real Madrid’s pursuit of their Undécima European crown remains intact for now after a taut, scrappy, occasionally spiky draw at the Estadio Vicente Calderón against a familiarly gristly Atlético Madrid team. Not that Diego Simeone will be displeased either: a goalless home draw is by no means a poor result in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, as Chelsea discovered in their defeat by Atlético at the same stage last year.
Here at times both teams seemed to settle for stasis, Real reduced to diffuse pressure and shots from distance despite fielding the full hand of grand attacking talents. Atlético were compact as ever, producing their only real attacking surge in the last 10 minutes of a first leg that may be best remembered for a punch thrown midway through the second half by Dani Carvajal at Mario Mandzukic. Video evidence seemed to suggest but not confirm a possible bite in the clinches too, although none of the assorted referees and assistants spotted anything amiss – and the defender has denied the accusations.
“You can think you have a small advantage but it may not be enough,” Simeone said afterwards of a match that throbbed with trapped energy but never quite got going. The venue is a stately, doomed, crumbling concrete shell these days, but it remains one of the fiercest places in Europe to play football. As the teams emerged here the roar from the red and white-draped home fans was thrillingly boisterous on a wild, windy Madrid night.
There is of course an easy dichotomy to be drawn between these two teams – the people’s club against the all-devouring white-shirted machine – but it is reflected in the way Simeone’s Atlético play, their all-action style an echo of the kind of football England’s first great striker Steve Bloomer found when he coached in Spain between the wars.
Back then Spanish clubs would leave water troughs around the touchlines so players could dunk their heads in while running themselves into a state of exhaustion. Which is, Simeone would probably conclude, not such a bad idea.
Here though Atlético began cautiously, too smart to allow the memory of six undefeated meetings with Real this season – before this game the score stood at 12-4 to Atlético – to cloud the realities of a two-legged tie. Instead it was Madrid who settled quicker, and Gareth Bale who had the first chance after four minutes, put through on goal by a simple pass after Diego Godín slipped over. Bale’s shot was too close to Jan Oblak, who stood up well and blocked at close range. It was, it turned out, the best chance of the game, and one that the world’s most expensive footballer really should have taken.
With Bale back after a foot injury Carlo Ancelotti had his A-team out for this match, with the craft and guile of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and James Rodríguez in a beguiling, if perhaps slightly lightweight midfield, reconfigured into an orthodox 4-4-2 here with Bale on the right. This had always looked like a significant match for the Welshman, his willingness to work defensively key to nullifying Atlético’s strength on the flanks.
He started well enough, once almost feeding Cristiano Ronaldo in the six yard box after finding space behind Guilherme Siqueira. And for a while Atlético were subdued, the crowd lifted to its full pitch only by the sight of Antoine Griezmann dumping Sergio Ramos on the ground by the halfway line.
Either side of which Madrid dominated possession and Atlético remained compact: understandably cagey stuff from a home team with away goals on its mind and visitors who have been stung in this stadium too often in the last six months.
Steadily the game opened up a little. Bale shot hard and low from 30 yards on the half hour , drawing another good low save from Oblak. Five minutes later Oblak saved again, this time from Rodríguez, whose curling shot seemed to be heading for the top corner. For Atlético Griezmann had begun to ferret profitably, dropping back into midfield to receive the ball. And just before half-time there was even the sight of the astonishingly quick Rafael Varane – in for Pepe presumably to combat Griezmann’s pace – sprinting the length of the field from a corner and narrowly missing with his pass to Ronaldo.
Atlético emerged from behind their guard at the start of the second half, Juanfran making good ground down the right flank, twisting away from Rodríguez and crossing for Arda Turan to head wide. After which the match turned spiky. Mandzukic was elbowed on the bridge of the nose by Ramos and left the pitch in a state of blood-soaked fury, while Ramos adopted a familiar posture of bewildered innocence. Minutes later Dani Carvajal seemed to punch Mandzukic in the stomach off the ball after an ongoing tangle.
Ronaldo was a muted presence throughout all this, the reigning Ballon D’Or holder offering very little from his circumscribed centre forward role. At times Ronaldo strolled. At others he berated the referee. In between he produced some grudging high grade touches, trundling through a match that surely demanded a little more urgency from Real’s star.
Atlético had their best period in the final 10 minutes, substitute Fernando Torres and Mario Suárez both almost finding space for a shot near goal. It wasn’t to be.
The return at the Santiago Bernabéu next week promises to be equally fraught, and equally tight.
