Real Madrid have defeated City rivals Atletico Madrid to boost their chances of qualifying for the Quarterfinals of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, MySportDab reports.
Los Blancos went into the game on the back of a shock 2-1 defeat to Real Betis in La Liga and needed victory against the arch-rivals to bolster their morale.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid went into the game brimming with confidence following a La Liga win over Athletic Bilbao, including a remarkable league phase run in the competition.
However, they had struggled against the defending champions in the competition, losing their last four fixtures (all in the knockout, including back-to-back final loss in 2014 and 2016).
At the Bernabeu tonight, they had a chance to rewrite the history but could not as Los Blancos pulled yet again another dominant performance against the perennial rivals.
From the start, the game was set for a nervy finish with both teams trying to dominate proceedings. However, Real Madrid were the better side in the first few minutes, dominating possession and breaking on multiple dangerous offensives.
Just four minutes into proceedings, their dominant showing yielded result. Rodrygo latched on a brilliant through-ball by Federico Valverde, cut into the box and unleashed a terrific finish past Oblak to give the home side the lead.
However, two minutes after the half-hour, Atletico Madrid got back into the game. Julian Alvarez scored a brilliant curved strike from inside the box to make it 1-1. Both sides went into the break with the scores tied.
In the second half, Atletico started strongly dominating proceedings. However, they were undone by a brilliant solo effort by Brahim Diaz who dribbled past two defenders before curling a low shot into the bottom right corner to fire Real Madrid into the lead again
After the goal, the balance and dynamics of the game shifted greatly in Real Madrid’s favour as Luka Modric came on.
Atletico Madrid struggled to create chances or hold onto the ball going forward and it finally ended with Real Madrid winning 2-1 after the final whistle.
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