Full-time: Real Madrid 2-2 Atlético Madrid (agg 2-4)
And that’s that. Well, Real paid the heaviest of prices for a sloppy start in both halves. That will really anger Carlo Ancelotti. The possession his team had – and the chances – didn’t really matter after each goal was scored. It felt like they’d given themselves a needless extra hurdle to leap before they could get going again. As for Fernando Torres, it was nice to see him smiling like that again. He had very little of the ball apart from his two goals but the confidence he showed for both finishes has been in absence for the best part of the past four years. Maybe this really will be his Second Coming. Enjoy feeling the love Fernando. Thanks for your emails. Goodnight.
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90+3 min: Ronaldo stands over a free-kick, 30 yards out from goal. Even with the odds stacked against his team he still prepares himself as if he’s hitting this one to win the World Cup. He slices it horribly wide and about 20 yards higher than it needs to be, though. Yeah, it’s not one of his best. He’s rubbish him.
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90+2 min: Isco has half a sight of goal after Bale worked the ball across the area to the little midfielder, who, pokes it straight at Oblak. He perhaps could have done better. “New Spurs signing DeAndre Yedlin may object to your description of Varane as fastest defender in the world, as you can see here,” writes Andy Palmquist.
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90 min: There’ll be four more minutes of this for Real to put up with.
89 min: Atleti’s every pass is being oléd here as they work the ball out of defence. They’re enjoying this all right. And then … kerblam! Isco goes through the back of Hérnandez and is booked for his trouble. Frustration, right there, in the little man’s boots.
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87 min: Is Varane the fastest defender in the world? Jiménez, fresh legged remember, just turned him on the halfway line and had a three or four-yard headstart but Varane ate it up in about two seconds and took the ball back off him before he knew what had happened. He may have been ropey in possession tonight, but he was ever so rapid there.
86 min: Another booking! Carvajal is shown yellow for swiping Siqueira’s legs over on the far touchline as Atleti looked to waste some time over there after taking a short corner. The free-kick is whipped in and Varane’s weak header just about keeps the ball from landing at Turan’s feet.
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84 min: Koke is shown a yellow now for a late challenge on Marcelo in which he shoves the Brazil full-back flush in the plate. There’s a football match going on somewhere out there, not that you’d know it.
82 min: Marcelo is booked for a late tackle on Hernández. He protests his innocence but it was late and needless. This is all a bit ugly now.
81 min: Raúl Jiménez is on for Raúl García. So no fewer Raúls out there on the Bernabéu turf.
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78 min: Bale flicks a header over the bar from an impossible position behind him. It sails harmlessly over. Ronaldo may as well get his Ballon D’Or out here and start polishing it. It may be the only way he’ll distract the Atleti defenders gathered round him.
76 min: Ancelotti will have a level-10 funk-on when he gets Real into the dressing room after this. All that “aggressive possession” he was talking about before the match was shot to pieces in the first minute of both halves due to sloppiness. Nothing more. Real have given up the jig here.
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74 min: Atleti have just played some lovely triangle passes in midfield and kept hold of the ball quite comfortably. There’s a few olés from the away fans as Gabi, and Suárez play piggy-in-the-middle with the increasingly-infuriated Carvajal, who has been a particular weak link for Real at right-back tonight.
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73 min: Griezmann, who made both assists for Torres, is taken off to a have cosy chat with Torres about how good he’s just made him look. Gabi is on. So Atleti are now playing something like a 6-4-0 formation. Beep! Beep! Beep! Look, there they are reversing just a few yards further back towards their own six-yard box.
70 min: For the first time, it feels like this game is petering out. Real need three goals in 20 minutes. James is off. And Jese is on.
67 min: Kroos whips a corner into the six-yard box … Benzema heads straight on to the arm of Siqueira – who couldn’t get it out of the way so no penalty – though Oblak should have come and punched that a mile clear but he was busy doing a pretty good impression of Simon Mignolet on his line instead.
66 min: And then Real go on the attack. First Marcelo has a shy from 20 yards that is blocked with Bale picking up the loose ball and clipping a cross to Ramos, on the back post, who heads straight at Oblak.
64 min: Griezmann curls it at goal with pace but Navas tips over, comfortably I might add. The corner is cleared easily.
62 min: Atleti win a free-kick after a woeful defensive header from Marcelo fell straight to the feet of Tiago, I think, who was fouled by Bale before he could get the ball out of his feet. Griezmann stands over it on the left-corner of the 18-yard box and 20 yards out …
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60 min: Varane has had a rusty old first few minutes since he has come on, almost gifting a free shot to Turan after a poor first touch a few moments earlier. Is it customary that every Real player has got to start as though they have sleep in their eyes tonight?
58 min: There’ll be no hat-trick for Torres. He’s withdrawn, to a cascade of jeers from Real fans, and replaced by Arda Turan. Meanwhile, Pepe is off too. Don’t laugh. Be kind. He looks to have pulled a muscle in that clash. He’s replaced by Varane.
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56 min: Raul García has just man-clashed with Pepe, who crumples to the turf about four cubic litres lighter of oxygen.
Goal! Real Madrid 2-2 Atlético Madrid (Ronaldo 54) agg 2-4
Ronaldo has his revenge on Godin. Marcelo waits for Bale to run inside his marker on the left-hand side of the 18-yard box, the winger – on his favoured left foot – dinks a cross into the six-yard box where Ronaldo steals in front of Godin – who was heavy-legged– to glance a header into the right-hand corner. Can they?
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51 min: Real Madrid need to win 5-2 now in case you were wondering. Godin has just been booked for introducing his studs to The World’s right calf.
49 min: Griezmann slashes wide with Torres on the hat-trick hunt. The former shadow-of-his-former-self is all El Nino now, twisting and turning his way between Pepe and Ramos and eventually working the ball to his team-mate, who can’t get his shot on target from 15 yards out.
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48 min: OK, so Fernando Torres will now want to turn Real Madrid into QPR.
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Goal! Real Madrid 1-2 Fernando Torres
Well, that’s just ridiculous. Barely 30 seconds into the second half Ramos plays the laziest of passes straight to Griezmann on the halfway line. He races forwards and draws a defender, before slipping Torres in down the inside-left channel. He runs level with the six-yard box, cuts on to his right foot and leaves Pepe on his behind, before sidefooting past Navas, who gets a touch with his foot but not a strong enough one to keep the ball out. Crazy!
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Second half!
Peep!
Real are out much earlier than Atleti. I still stand by my 3-1 scoreline, which will see Atleti go through on away goals. Atlético’s deep defending is giving Real no room in behind but I still think there’ll be a couple more, perhaps ugly, goals scored by Real.
Half-time: Real Madrid 1-1 Atlético Madrid (agg 1-3)
Well, that was a strange half. Atleti scored and then retreated to the edge of their own 18-yard box. They’re very good at defending leads but it made for a one-sided game, in terms of possession. Here’s some first-half stats …
45 min: Torres has taken some hammer tonight. He’s working his cojones off and getting very little service. Mind you, he probably won’t mind if he doesn’t touch the ball again all game if Atleti go through thanks to his early goal. He hits a tame effort wide and then wins a free-kick to see out the final seconds of the first half. Peep!
44 min: The eagle-eyed JR in Illinois is a grass! “Right around the 30 minute mark Pepe attempted to smash Godin in the face with a spinning backfist but he missed. Pepe should not still be playing in this game. In fact, I don’t think he should be allowed to play in any games. Dude’s a menace.”
42 min: Ronaldo shifts the ball on to his right foot and has a crack from 16 yards that slams into the arm of Miranda, who had his back half-turned and his arm pinned to his side. The Bernabéu screams for handball. The referee waves those protests away. Never a penalty.
41 min: Atleti have a corner after stringing more than two passes together for the first time in a good, long while. Koke’s corner is easily cleared, mind, and soon the ball is back with Oblak in Atleti’s goal. As you were.
39 min: “I’m a g00ner and have fond memories of Henry’s comeback goal,” chirps Nick in Texas. “Was Torres’s goal anything like that for Atlético fans?” I don;t know, Nick. Atlético fans? I’m guessing it was a little more enjoyable, given the opposition and the occasion.
36 min: Real are cranking up the pressure but Atleti are holding firm. Bale is finding a bit of joy out on the right, up against Siqueira … an outside-of-the-foot cross is blocked and then another centre, volleyed in by Bale, is hacked clear by Godin. I’d be interested to see how he’d do if they switched him to the left to get behind Atleti.
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34 min: Atleti have had 19% possession. Let that sink in.
32 min: Atlético are deeper than the Mariana Trench. Every time they regain possession they have Torres as an option. The only option. Invariably he is hounded off the ball.
29 min: The corner is cleared … eventually. They’re making hard work of some of this defending are Atleti. It’s almost as if they want this to be a little closer and a little more nervy than it actually is. Real need three more goals. Atleti need a little more zen about their play.
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28 min: Bale is set free on the right, all bouncing hair and bulging muscles … he cuts towards the box and then back outside and then back inside, twisting the blood they call it don’t they? He then stands a cross up to the back post where Ronaldo heads at goal but sees his effort deflect off the back of Miranda and out for a corner.
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25 min: It’s gone a bit pub football in the last couple of minutes. There are some heavy tackles on both sides. Raul García is booked for trying to prevent a Real Madrid counter-attack. He doesn’t. It’s a good advantage by the referee, who remembers to keep a note of the late sliding tackle on James. The attack comes to naught after a lazy and loose ball by Marcelo.
23 min: And forward they come. Ronaldo finds James on the right, he runs towards the byline and pings a low ball across the box, the ball is deflected and Ronaldo shoots at goal with Oblak all over the place in front of him, only for Mario Suárez to slide across and clear with a last-ditch lunge. Atleti are great at ‘last-ditch’ lunges. They do them so well.
22 min: Real have got the bit between their teeth here. Bale goes on a rampaging run down the right and pings a dangerous ball into the box that Atleti just manage to clear.
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Goal! Real Madrid 1-1 Atlético Madrid (Ramos 20)
Well, the warning signs were there. Real win a free-kick on the right after a late challenge by the overly-enthusiastic Torres. Kroos whips it in, Oblak goes for a stroll out to the six-yard line, misses the ball by a mile and allows Ramos to head home unmarked from six yards behind him. Poor goalkeeping. Poor marking too. Atleti lead 3-1 on aggregate. Real still need four goals on the night.
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18 min: Real go close after Kroos whips in an outswinging corner from the right. Benzema pulls off his marker and gets his right foot to the ball, eight yards out, but he can’t generate any power and as the ball looks to be falling to Ronaldo for a tap-in, Oblak gathers. That was a jittery moment for Atleti.
15 min: Real are being kept out of the 18-yard box by some energetic Atleti defending. Godin and Miranda are stewarding the backline ever so well. A Marcelo cross to the back post is met by Bale’s head, but again, the Real player can’t get a good jump on the ball due to the close attention of Godin.
13 min: Torres’s hair is very blond tonight. Was bleach the answer to his chronic lack of form? I’m not saying he’s chemically enhanced, it’s just that he was always at his best when his hair was goddamn awful. Meanwhile, Torres has just run straight into Pepe and claimed a free-kick. He doesn’t get it. And he shouldn’t. He was looking for that.
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11 min: This is all Real Madrid but some of the movement has been laboured in and around the 18-yard box. Bale floats a harmless cross into the box from the right as he looks up and sees very few team-mates to aim at.
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9 min: Isco shows incredibly quick feet as he gathers the ball 25 yards from goal. He switches it from his right foot to his left foot in the blink of an eye but he could have done with a bit more zen in his final shot, which he snatches at and sends high and wide.
8 min: Carvajal has had a bit of a shocking start. He gifts possession to Atleti by trying to pick out Kroos 30 yards inside him when a simple ball was on to Isco. There’s something to be said for unspectacular full-backs such as Arbeloa.
6 min: Atleti sit back, as you might expect now, and invite Real on to them. Bale has a half-chance as he tries to generate a bit of power from a floated-in cross from the right, but his header is tame and easily taken by Oblak.
3 min: Well, that has certainly silenced the Bernabéu. That’s Torres’s first goal against Real in an Atleti shirt. Real now need four goals. Mind you, Real are pretty good at scoring four goals. Atleti fans remember 24 May 2014 all too well.
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Goal! Real Madrid 0-1 Atlético Madrid (Torres 2)
My my! Torres is feeling the love all right now (from Atleti fans). Griezmann catches the dosy Real defence out by rampaging down the left after Carvajal let the ball run behind him. He takes a touch into the box and cuts the ball back behind Ramos with a deft touch for Torres to blast first time, with a heap of confidence, past Navas into the top corner from 10 yards. Incredible start.
Peep!
We’re off.
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Gong alert! Ronaldo has just picked up his Ballon D’Or golden ball and soaked up the love as he showed it to all four sides of the Bernabéu. He can soak up a lot of love. James received his Puskas award for the best goal of last season too.
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The fourth official has just given Fernando Torres a hug. He really is feeling the love back in Madrid.
The Bernabéu, right now …
El Bernabéu se tiñe de oro. pic.twitter.com/N9YN50YCZM
— Eleonora Giovio (@elegiovio) January 15, 2015
Right, almost time for kick-off in Madrid, where the weather looks as grey, wet and depressing as it is here in Kings Cross. The Bernabéu is packed and noisy as the teams prepare to come out …
Miranda also back for Atleti - for Jose María Giménez - on the ground where he scored the 2013 final winner
— Andy Brassell (@andybrassell) January 15, 2015
If any of you are wondering where Mario Mandzukic is, he’s got a fever. He’s burning up, poor fella. So Griezmann will play behind Torres, who has never scored or won at the Bernabéu in five attempts with Atleti. Could tonight be the night?
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Talking tactics!
“Madrid playing a back four, one central midfielder, two attacking midfielders, two wingers and a striker. Is it just me or are they un-inverting the pyramid again? It would certainly make a very decent 2-3-5,” Jonathan Wilsons Reinoud Dupan. I make it a 4-3-3 because that fits the tiny piece of paper I’ve written the team down on better than any other formation.
Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘I am the world!’
Well, of course he is.
Team News
Real Madrid (yeah, not bad)
Our starting XI against Atlético de Madrid! #RealMadridvsATL #CopaDelRey #HalaMadrid #RMLive pic.twitter.com/Abo2zc9aP9
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) January 15, 2015
And here’s the Atlético Madrid team, via video link (Torres starts)
Aquí tenéis nuestro 11. #AtléticosPorElMundo, ¿qué os parece? #RealMadridAtleti #AúpaAtleti https://t.co/xt3LJ7upYU
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) January 15, 2015
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Evening. It’s Madrid derby time. Again. Last week, Atlético produced one of those displays as they beat Real 2-0, thanks to a Raúl García penalty and a header from José María Giménez, the workrate and togetherness of Diego Simeone’s players standing out above any one individual performance. His galvanised group did for their illustrious neighbours once more to take their tally to three wins and a draw from their past four meetings.
Fernando Torres, on his return to Atlético after seven-and-a-half years playing well and not-so-well elsewhere, played for 60 minutes of that match. There were flakes of rust flying off him for the most part but these days that’s not too surprising. Maybe his return to Atlético will get him back to something like his former self – maybe not the full Fernando, certainly not El Nino, perhaps just Nando: the local lad who chips in with a goal now and then. It’s been a while since he’s been loved – 2009 to be precise.
Anyway, Diego Simeone has been trying to play down his side’s chances before this second leg. “We know that we are weaker than our rivals in terms of players,” Simeone said. “But we know who we are and that is our virtue. The day we think we are better than them, we will concede four goals,” which suggests that Atlético last thought they were better than Real Madrid in the Champions League final last May. But, anyway …
“We have to realise that Real don’t stop and if they can score six goals against you they will. You cannot get annoyed when you have conceded the fourth goal, get annoyed when the score is goalless. I know my players play them [knockout games] well, because it’s a do-or-die situation and my players are not afraid of death.” Jeepers! With most other managers you’d call this kind of chat ‘mind-games’ but with Simeone you get the impression he’d never bother with that tripe. It’s the not-afraid-to-face-death approach that his team does better than any other at present. And while some would say it will drain his squad over the course of the season, they did OK with that mentality last season, didn’t they?
If they go through, they face Barcelona over another two legs. They’re four points off the top of La Liga and have a chance of retaining their crown. They’ll have to do not-afraid-of-death fast and hard through till the end of May, one expects.
As for Real, with their newly-crowned three-time Ballon D’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlo Ancelotti wants “positive aggression” at the Bernabéu tonight, which sounds like he wants his team to be like Stoke, but not really like Stoke.
“I ask the players to be aggressive in all the games because aggression in defence is a very important component,” Ancelotti said. “Aggression means working hard to get the ball back when you don’t have it, aggression means running fast to block an opponent’s cross, aggression means marking effectively at set pieces. Aggression in football is an important word and also a positive one.” So, he wants his team to defend better, really.
My prediction: Real Madrid 3-1 Atlético Madrid
I’ll be back shortly. In the meantime, here’s Django Django with their new single.
And another look, if you’ve yet to watch it, on our video: is Madrid the greatest footballing city.
