Real Madrid 5-3 Atletico Madrid: Madrid derby gets top notch, with last minute goals helping Los Blancos to the finals of Spanish Super Cup
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid play out one of the enthralling games in their history as Madrid Derby lived up to its expectations, with both sides leaving no space for each other. With a 5-3 victory at extra time, thanks to a Brahim Diaz world-class banger from midfield at open goal, Real Madrid proceeded to the finals of Spanish Super Cup at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Los Blancos await a possible opponent in the form of Osasuna and FC Barcelona, who play out another semi-final tonight.
Real Madrid edges past crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, a duel which goes by the name of Madrid Derby, is enough to explain the hype and excitement it is set to get when these two sides meet each other at any stage of any competition. Be it in domestic season with the La Liga trophy on the line to the finals of UEFA Champions League, these sides from the Spanish capital never fails to showcase their fans what a real capital derby looks like. Last night was not an exception either, as Real eked out a perfect win after edging past Atletico in a game which had emotions swirling on the see-saw for both teams.
With a Super Cup final beckoning for the crosstown rivals, tacticians from both teams had gone for their strongest eleven, without some players owing to injuries. Ancelotti started his favorite Brazilian duo of Rodrygo and Vinicius on the front, followed by their poster boy Bellingham. Modric, Valverde and Tchouameni followed them, with the defensive duties vested upon the seasoned defense of Nacho, Rudiger, Carvajal and Mendy. As for Atletico, Griezmann and Morata spearheaded the attack, followed by Saul, Koke and Rodrigo de Paul. Defensive sector comprised their seasoned quintet with Lino, Llorente on the flanks, as central defense had Hermoso, Savio and Gimenez.
A see-saw of emotions
It all started with a Hermoso at the red end of the capital city of Spain at Riyadh, as Hermoso was the first to draw the blood for Los Rojiblancos. He placed himself with exceptional prowess in an unmarked situation, where an excellent cross from Antoine Griezmann was headed quite deftly by the Spaniard, thus keeping Atleti fans on their feet with the first goal. But little did they knew that their joy would be short-lived as Real would bounce back in style.
With Rudiger turning his defensive exploits quickly into attacking prowess, Ancelotti’s men found an answer to restore the parity, when a Luka Modric cross helped Los Blancos to get on level terms with their opponents. The tall German positioned himself between three Atleti players, scoring the header to go 1-1 with plenty of time to play for.
Ferland Mendy was instrumental in leading the score line just before half-hour mark, as it turned out to be a tactic between Real’s defensive set-up, with Carvajal setting him up with a grounded cross, with the Frenchman hitting on the far corner of the net, thus going ahead by 2-1.
But, it spurned out that the game had more for the supporters as Griezmann completed the turnaround for the first half, when he scored the equalizer, chopping the ball past his marker, thus slotting the ball past Kepa, becoming Atletico Madrid’s leading goal scorer in the process.
A tumultuous second-half, followed by extra time
With a 2-2 score line, and the match proceeding to a potential extra time, Morata scored a banger on the 78th minute, tilting the game on Diego Simeone’s favor. With a scrappy goal for the lead, Morata made a nuisance of the ball passed to him by Riquelme, but later replays suggested that it was due to Kepa as the goalkeeper had the last touch before the ball went past, thus naming an unwanted own goal, with his vociferous protests going down the line.
But, Real showcased their comeback spirit once again as Carvajal scored the equalizer with five minutes from time, thus forcing the game into extra time. After being saved twice in two attempts by Oblak and Hermoso, the ball finally went in from Carvajal’s rebound who led Real fans inside the stadium go wild, with the game proceeding to extra time.
Savic’s blunder leads to an own goal
As the game went into the second half of extra time, with the score at 3-3, fans once again ‘mistook’ the score line which would end with penalties, but Savic proceeded to blunt things down, as he put the ball in his own net, helping Real with a 4-3 lead with four minutes left to play. With a corner from Carvajal grazed by Joselu, the ball was swept inside Atleti goal.
But, what followed next was a blunder by Oblak, who had come up to Real goal in order to get an equalizer, but the ball and Brahim Diaz, both broke free, as the former AC Milan star scoring the ball from midfield into open goal, thus advancing to the finals of the tournament, waiting the winner of Barca and Osasuna.
