Read Sid Lowe’s report of the game...
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Full-time: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid
That was a decent game! Atletico will be much happier with the result, as it heightens the chances of their finishing above Real considerably. Real had the chances to win it, Oblak playing superbly in goal for Atleti, and one assumed they would push on after Ronaldo’s brilliant volley. But, fair play to Atletico, they equalised soon afterwards through a well-worked Griezmann goal and could have scored again in the little spell after that. They weren’t really stretched by much of Real’s late pressure and will believe they deserve their point.
90+2 min: Sergio Ramos steps up and that’s a fantastic save from Oblak! There was whip, speed, direction, the whole lot, but the one-handed stop is simply magnificent. From the corner Ramos flashes a header over at the near post! That is probably that.
90 min: Here we go ... Real have a free-kick in a central position on the edge of the ‘D’ as we enter added time ...
89 min: Hernandez is booked for a fairly rudimentary foul on Bale 15 yards inside the Atletico half.
88 min: More cries for a penalty after a lovely Real move down the left ends with Vazquez going down, but he’s booked for a dive. He probably couldn’t stay on his feet much longer. Marcelo made an absolutely glorioys backwards flick in the build-up.
87 min: It is all Real again and a teasing Carvajal delivery goes beyond everyone, before Kroos sizes up a 20-yarder to considerable anticipation but bursts it by firing well over.
85 min: Real ramp up some more pressure and Juanfran hacks away after Marcelo, alone beyond the back post, drills across.
83 min: Vazquez is back on but it seems to me that Real have 10 and a half men for the final few minutes, really. He is clearly injured and it’s a bit of a risk to have him back out there.
82 min: I’m not sure we will see Vazquez again and, remember, Real have used all three subs. Atletico almost capitalise instantly, Griezmann doing brilliantly to kill a ball stone dead down the left but then centring *just* beyond Correa. And yes, Simeone clearly fancies going for it a little more now ... Gameiro replaces Partey ...
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80 min: Vazquez is in pain again, this time seeming to have twisted his ankle by the byline, and requires treatment.
78 min: Modric drills one wide of the near post and he has got straight into the game, as has Isco.
77 min: Close-ish there though as Benzema, picked out by another good Bale delivery, can’t really get a good enough header in and a defender smuggles away. Then Bale himself arrives late to power a Carvajal cross wide and this might be the pattern of things now.
75 min: Carvajal drills against a defender and Real are applying some pressure now, even if they don’t really look like breaking through again at the moment. Vazquez is down, possibly with a blood injury after colliding with Godin, but should be OK.
72 min: Modric and Isco come on for Kovacic and Asensio, so the cavalry – bar Ronaldo – are now on.
70 min: Griezmann shows wonderful feet to set Saul away but he doesn’t quite look confident enough to outstrip the defence and, more critically, ignores a pass to Diego Costa. He does eventually get a decent shot in, curling not far wide from 20 yards, but that could have been so much more. Straight afterwards Costa is brought on for Gabi and you sense Simeone will be fine with a point.
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69 min: Will Ronaldo’s absence be a psychological boost for Real? Benzema is excellent but doesn’t quite inspire the same dread. The home team have certainly gone pretty quiet ... is it time we saw Isco?
67 min: A quieter spell now. We were due one!
64 min: Real make a change ... and it’s Ronaldo, more than a touch surprisingly, who is replaced by Benzema. Nobody in the Bernabeu seems quite sure about that and not least Ronaldo, who seems to have words for Zidane as he marches off.
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62 min: And another Griezmann sortie briefly takes him beyond the defence now, with Costa also free, only for a defender to block. What a turnaround this has been since Real scored.
61 min: Now a change for Atletico, Correa replacing Vitolo.
59 min: And all of a sudden Atletico could be ahead, Koke seizing onto a half-cleared cross from the right and striking towards goal from 12 yards only to see Navas save superbly. What a start to the half!
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Goal! Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Griezmann 57)
Yes there is! Moments later Partey plays in Griezmann, who slips the ball to Vitolo and is then in place to slot into the vacant goal when Vitolo’s touch takes the ball away from Navas. Well!
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57 min: Costa looks for a split second to have got away from Varane but is delayed. He works the ball to Saul, whose cross-shot is pawed away by Navas. Is there life in Atletico yet?
55 min: Real go in search of a quick second and Ronaldo is denied a tap-in by some desperate defending. Atletico could soon be out of this if things continue at this pelt.
Goal! Real Madrid 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Ronaldo 53)
He does come up with a showstopper! Bale makes hay down the left and knows, if he stands the ball up long and deep, that Ronaldo will pull off Hernandez. He does, and the resulting volley, cracked low across Oblak, is absolutely textbook. Real deserve it.
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51 min: Hernandez fouls Vazquez in dangerous right-sided territory. Will someone have a crack? The angle is just a little wide so Kroos attempts a cross, but it’s cleared as far as Kovacic and the midfielder can’t make good contact on the volley. Shortly afterwards Vazquez loops a header to Oblak.
48 min: Not a lot has happened yet, some early Atletico possession quickly giving way to the pop-pop-pop of Real passes.
Peeeeep! The second half has commenced
Can Real take one of their chances? Will Atletico make one of their counters count?
In one of the world’s other top leagues, Arsenal v Southampton is winding down a little tempestuously and you can see how with our friend John Brewin:
Half-time: Real Madrid 0-0 Atletico Madrid
That’s the half, Real unlucky not to be ahead. Oblak has made two or three good saves, Marcelo has hit the bar and they should have had an early penalty. Diego Costa has come close to Atletico though and it’s an open affair. See you shortly!
45 min: Koke nutmegs Carvajal neatly and wins a free-kick in the Real half. We’re close to a goalless first 45 here.
42 min: Marcelo hits the bar! He cuts inside in trademark fashion, whips one with his right foot and it pings off the frame, Oblak parrying Carvajal’s volleyed follow-up away! Real could so easily be ahead by now.
41 min: And they appeal for another Savic handball, this time inside the area, but it’s all fairly muted. They get luckier seconds later though as Costa is called offside when he wasn’t and, to be honest, it wasn’t even close.
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39 min: Now Real want a handball just outside the box, Bale knocking it against Savic, but again they aren’t given the decision. They don’t make much of the ensuing corner.
38 min: It’s now a decent spell for Atletico, who have seen more of the ball as the half has gone on without using it too consistently. Real counter though and Vazquez can’t quite bring a Bale cross under his spell at the back post.
36 min: Vazquez attempts a shot that pinballs off two Atletico defenders and away.
34 min: Saul has a meaty go from the edge of the area and it’s not bad, flying over as Navas waves an arm just in case. Partey is booked for a foul moments later and will miss Atletico’s next game.
32 min: There’s not a lot of midfield protection here – as they’ve pointed out just now on The Telly, Gabi and Casemiro both get a rest today – and as a result we are getting a fair number of chances or, at least, promising situations.
29 min: Big chance for Diego Costa! Real expect an offside when Costa springs onto a teased little ball down the inside right, but there’s rightly no flag and he’s clear to take aim at Navas ... who tips wide ever so sharply at his near post! Could have been 1-0 to Atletico there!
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28 min: Juanfran is adjudged, a bit harshly, to have fouled Ronaldo on the left. Kroos’s free-kick doesn’t quite reach Bale ... but it’s met by Varane, who finds himself in space and lashes an angled drive that Oblak is out to save superbly!
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25 min: Carvajal tees up Kovacic for a blast that Godin repels. Real are having another lengthy spell on the ball.
24 min: It’s a fairly open game, although not exactly white-hot derby stuff. A bit more controversy there are Real think Saul has passed back to Oblak, who picks up, but there’s nothing doing.
22 min: Better from Atletico, Juanfran’s low centre dummied by Vitolo for Koke, who can’t quite get the ball where he wants it and has to attempt an awkward backheel that Navas eventually lands on.
@NickAmes82 AM are just like Simeone when he played passionate, hardworking & a tad dirty. If Real were like ZZ when he played they wouldn’t be 16pts behind FCB that’s for sure. This shud be a close one with plenty of cards & a goal or two!
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) April 8, 2018
So far: no goals but two cards.
20 min: Ramos gets a bit lucky, dithering inside his own box and being dispossessed by Costa. A foul is rightly given but Costa could probably have gone about that more subtly and then there’d have been a chance. Straight up the other end and Ronaldo, running down the middle, has a 25-yard blast tipped over by Oblak! Two corners follow, with little consequence.
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17 min: Atletico have settled a bit and, with the firepower available to them, you’d hope they will create some chances soon. Vitolo is yellow carded now for fouling Kroos in a fairly innocuous area.
15 min: Atletico win a corner and, therefore, a first real chance to threaten. Koke swings it in pretty deep from the right, and it’s defended.
13 min: Bale climbs to meet a right-wing cross but can’t aim his header anywhere near goal. It’s all Real, although Kroos is booked now for crudely halting another Griezmann break.
11 min: Another Real corner now ... and big penalty appeals! It’s worked short and Kroos, bursting into the box, nips in just ahead of Juanfran. The ball runs loose and a vicious Asensio shot shaves the crossbar! Looking at it again, that should be a spot kick – Juanfran clearly clips him. But to Real’s fury nothing is given!
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10 min: ... and from it Ronaldo almost scores, Bale winning the header and the Portuguese, onrushing, unable to adjust himself to attack the ball with his foot. Instead it comes off a combination of thigh and goodness knows what else, Oblak gratefully smothering right on his line.
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9 min: Atletico look quite happy to sit in at the moment. They can break sharply though and Kovacic shows tremendous energy to get back and thwart Griezmann on halfway. But Real earn another corner in front of a bouncing white-clad mass of fans behind the left goal ...
7 min: It’s now Real largely in possession, Kroos wasting one left-sided free-kick. They then earn a corner on the same flank, from which Savic blocks well as Marcelo strikes a right-footer.
4 min: That apart it’s been a fairly tentative start, Atletico having a little bit of decent territory before Ramos stopped Saul getting onto Griezmann’s flick.
2 min: Bale loses his man on halfway with an absolutely sensational turn and burns towards the box, but delays a pass with Asensio and Ronaldo both free, and eventually centres straight to a defender with his team-mates’ frustration obvious.
Peeeeep! We're off!
The derby gets underway!
Just 150 Atletico fans due at Bernabeu today - 800 travelling to Lisbon for Thursday’s Europa League second leg at Sporting
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) April 8, 2018
I don’t know the whys and wherefores although I’m certain it owes to allocation more than demand. Pretty bizarre either way.
The teams are emerging at the Bernabeu! The sun is out in Madrid, by the looks. Get ready ...
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And if we’re talking goals ... anyone fancy another showstopper from Cristiano Ronaldo? It wasn’t the greatest goal of all time on Tuesday, no it wasn’t – but it was an utterly thrilling moment nonetheless. He picks his moments and this would be another.
Atletico’s home derby, back in November, finished goalless. They may have their Europa League quarter-final second leg against Sporting on their minds today but they’re already 2-0 up and that’s a strong, attacking team they have named today.
Here’s your big match preview – courtesy of Sid Lowe!
Team news
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Kroos, Kovacic; Vazquez, Asensio, Bale; Ronaldo. Subs: Casilla, Theo, Modric, Casemiro, Llorente, Isco, Benzema.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Juanfran, Godin, Savic, Lucas; Thomas, Koke, Saul, Vitolo; Griezmann, Costa. Subs: Werner, Vrsaljko, Torres, Gameiro, Correa, Montoro, Gabi .
Strong teams there ... and Gareth Bale is back in for Real.
Hola!
It’s the Madrid derby! A red-letter fixture in the calendar whichever way you hold it, although one with a bit of a difference this year. There’s a suggestion the edge isn’t quite what it might be, with both sides eyeing European second legs and the La Liga title as good as done. If Atletico were to win there’d remain the ghost of a theoretical chance that they could haul Barcelona back and that, all things being equal, would go down rather well to those of a Real persuasion.
But, no, it’s a derby and it’s still a huge one. Real have arrested their slump of earlier in the season and, having looked so impressive at Juventus, will want to keep their run of form going – 11 wins from 12 in all competitions – while for Atletico there are, at the very least, local bragging rights to keep hold of. It’s impossible to see this one assuming Everton v Liverpool levels of drabness, so I’d recommend buckling up!
And after you’ve done so, drop me a line with your thoughts, hopes, fears, predictions, corrections and anything else that grabs you. The addresses are above.
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