Photo: Collected
Kylian Mbappe scored in his first capital derby against Atletico Madrid as Real Madrid fought back for a 1-1 draw and kept its slim lead of the Spanish league on Saturday. Next up for Mbappe and Madrid is a trip to Manchester City on Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League knockout round playoff.
Julian Alvarez put Atletico ahead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute. Mbappe equalized in the 50th for the hosts, which stayed one point ahead of Atletico in the standings.
Jude Bellingham hit the crossbar with a header as Madrid searched for a second goal. Atletico goalkeeper Jan Olbak made saves to deny Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Mbappe to split the points at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"We knew how to hang in there and had our chances," Alvarez said. "We are in the fight and will stay in it right to the end."
Atletico, which spent big last summer to acquire Alvarez and other reinforcements, is trying to add to league titles in 2021 and 2014 under coach Diego Simeone. Barcelona, in third place, is five points behind Madrid before visiting Sevilla on Sunday. Mbappe had missed the first Atletico derby of the season, a 1-1 draw in September, because of injury.
First half to Atletico
A spate of injuries left Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti relying on a makeshift backline of Lucas Vazquez, regular midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, youth player Raul Asencio, and Fran Garcia.
A reckless stretch of his boot by Tchouameni that ended up tripping Samuel Lino was spotted by a video review referee and sent Alvarez to the penalty spot. The former Man City striker gently stroked his penalty down the middle as Thibaut Courtois dived to his left.
Antoine Griezmann showed again his great value to Atletico with precision passing even under duress. The French midfielder twice placed perfectly weighted balls that left Alvarez and Lino in good position to get off shots inside the area, but clumsy touches by both ruined the opportunities.
"It is a draw that leaves both teams thinking they could have gotten a better result," Simeone said. "We had some situations that we lacked the clarity we needed to resolve better."
Second half to Real
Rodrygo sparked the Madrid comeback just after halftime when he dribbled past Javi Galan and Lino on the right side and slipped a ball to Bellingham in the heart of the box. Bellingham's scuffed shot hit a defender and fell to Mbappe to rifle home for his first goal against Atletico.
Mbappe had missed the first Atletico derby of the season, a 1-1 draw in September, because of injury. Madrid poured forward searching for a second goal with Atletico rattled. Vinicius dribbled down the left side and scooped the ball for Bellingham, who smashed a header off the woodwork.
Simeone changed both his full backs with Reinildo and Nahuel Molina in the 63rd, but Oblak still had to come to Atletico's rescue on three occasions.
"It is going to be a tightly contested league until the very end," Ancelotti said.
Messenger/Tareq
