Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid: Match review
It is advantage Real Madrid in their round of 16 tie versus Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, thanks to a first leg win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday evening's derby.
A tightly fought contest saw Los Merengues come out on top as they earned their maiden success of the season against Los Rojiblancos with the two previous La Liga games between the rivals ending in 1-1 draws.
The match got underway with the home team very much in the driving seat from the first whistle.
It took them less than four minutes to break the deadlock as a superb through ball from Federico Valverde was latched upon by Rodrygo Goes down the right flank. The Brazilian beat Javi Galan easily before setting himself up and thumping a neat finish past Jan Oblak with his weak foot.
The goal broke Rodrygo's scoreless run which had gone on for nine matches. Just minutes later, Antonio Rudiger's long ball was brought down by the winger, who again took on Galan without any issues.
He latched hands with Jose Maria Gimenez and tumbled inside the box but a penalty shout left referee Clement Turpin unmoved in what seemed like a 50-50 call on second viewing of the tussle.
After an intense seven or eight minutes at the start, Atletico sat deep and began playing on the counter. They had a number of chances which Federico Valverde and Raul Asencio dealt with well and needed a moment of genius from Julian Alvarez to draw level just after the half-hour mark.
The forward's second goal against Real Madrid this season was a work of art as he finished brilliantly from a tight angle in the box after beating Eduardo Camavinga in a one-on-one down Atleti's left wing.
Following the first half, in which the hosts were probably a bit more passive than they would have liked, the second period saw them gain better control of proceedings and within 10 minutes of the game restarting, Brahim Diaz restored their lead.
A quick combination down the left between the Moroccan, Vinicius Junior and Ferland Mendy saw the former Manchester City star drop Gimenez in the box with some neat footwork. A pinpoint finish into the far corner followed as Brahim scored in the round of 16 first leg for the second straight season.
Real Madrid looked for a third after going up for a second time on the night but struggled against Atletico's low block, while Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior were unexpectedly poor. And though the visitors broke forward a couple of times, their chances of finding a second equaliser of the evening were repelled by some great defending by the team.
Mbappe and Vinicius should have added a third in stoppage time but the Frenchman's pass to his teammate was extremely tame in a two-on-one situation. Marcos Llorente intercepted for Los Rojiblancos, who would have felt that they were let off the hook by two of the world's most lethal hitmen.
The decisive leg is on Wednesday, March 12th, at the Wanda Metropolitano and Real Madrid will look to capitalise on their advantage to earn a quarter-final berth in the European Cup.
Before the second continental bout, Los Merengues take on Rayo Vallecano at home in La Liga while Diego Simeone's side is on the road against Getafe in the Spanish top-flight.
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