El Derbi Madrileno took the stage for the 230th time, with Atletico Madrid looking for their second-consecutive win in this fixture after beating Real Madrid 1-0 at home last year, but both team forms suggested otherwise, and precisely that what happened was bound to be. Champions League performance aside, Diego Simeone’s squad had been in decent shape to start the campaign, winning two of their last three games, while Madrid was and still is a juggernaut.
🎙 Simeone
— Atlético de Madrid (
"We're gonna face a great team with great players". pic.twitter.com/n6zF2NJKvk@atletienglish) September 17, 2022
Atletico Madrid made six changes to the XI that beat Celta Vigo 4-1 last weekend. Oblak returned from injury to drop Grbic back to the bench while Felipe was preferred to Hermoso at center-back. Koke and Llorente entered the midfield ahead of Lemar and Molina, respectively, while Griezmann and Felix took over for Correa and Morata in the attack for the first time in this campaign.
Your Atleti XI for the Madrid Derby 💪 pic.twitter.com/MgUjjxRWYk
— Atlético de Madrid (
Real Madrid managed to cope without Karim Benzema perfectly well last week, dispatching Mallorca 4-1 before beating Leipzig in midweek European competition, but the test was made even greater today against their city counterparts. One point back of Barcelona after their win yesterday, Carlo Ancelotti’s team could return to the summit with just a point, and they just did it with ease.
Real Madrid made four alterations to the side that beat Mallorca 4-1 last Sunday. Carvajal was right-back ahead of the injured Lucas Vazquez, while Militao got the nod instead of Rudiger at center-back. Modric came in for Ceballos in midfield, and the final swap saw Tchouameni come in for Hazard, pushing Valverde into the right wing.
📋✅ Our derby starting XI!#AtletiRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/y44vTVulJl
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 18, 2022
A fiery first half at the Civitas Metropolitano came to an end with the visitors ahead by two goals to nil, thanks to two goals 18 minutes apart from Rodrygo and Valverde. Ancelotti’s side had managed the nerves better in a match of relatively few chances and fashioned a couple of gilt-edged chances, taking them both with aplomb. Outside of strikes from distance and set-pieces, the combination of Griezmann and Felix did not create enough, with Courtois barely tested in the opening 45 minutes. It looked as though Atletico Madrid wanted just to see out the first half and got into the dressing room for further instructions. It was a poor half from the hosts, with Simeone facing several decisions ahead of the resumption.
👀 First half summary: pic.twitter.com/02Zh43cyJy
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (
Down two goals at home to their most bitter rivals, Simeone had little choice but to instruct his side to push ahead at every opportunity in order to disrupt the orderly Real Madrid defense. Ancelotti’s focus was on seeing out the result in as calm a manner as possible, reminding his players to control their temper and focus on the game as opposed to the rivalry.
Simeone overseeded his 22nd derby as Atletico Madrid manager against Real Madrid in LaLiga (W5 D8 L9) and equaled Luis Aragones (W5 D6 L11) as the Atlético coach with the most derbies against Los Blancos in the history of the competition, but that's not the way he wanted to finish it with utter disappointment and a red card. Hermoso is just lucky to net a goal in the 83rd minute. What he did is completely unacceptable. First, he wasted time taking on Carvajal instead of looking for a solution and made it easy for Madrid to see him red later on.
Atletico Madrid will look to get back to winning ways on October 1 when they travel to face Sevilla. Real Madrid’s first match after the international break is at home against Osasuna.
Previously, Ancelotti lost four of his six meetings as a manager with Simeone in LaLiga (W1 D1). Only against Luciano Spalletti in Serie A (9 defeats from 20 games) has the Italian coach suffered more losses than against the Argentinian.
🤨👏 @MrAncelotti equals Beenhakker with 89 wins in @LaLigaEN! #RealFootball pic.twitter.com/WUKoPo1Mwb
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (
But today, Ancelotti equals Beenhakker with 89 wins in LaLiga while being the Juggernauts in every competition they stepped on.
Madridistas thought they had replaced Casemiro with him, but he isn't that. He is an Upgrade, and that's huge. This was his first real test against solid opposition, and he did shine with flying colors. What a player!! Why, believe me, just look at the numbers for this match.
| Minutes | 90 |
|---|---|
| Touches | 65 |
| Assist | 1 |
| Passing Accuracy | 92% (43/48) |
| Chance Created | 1 |
| Big chance created | 1 |
| Tackles | 100% (2/2) |
| Clearences | 6 |
| Interceptions | 2 |
| Aerial Duels won | 2/3 |
| Ball Recoveries | 4 |
| Dribble past | 2 (One was unlucky) |
| Long ball | 2/4 |
| Headed clearences | 5 |
What impresses me the most is that he has qualities of Casemiro and a bit of Modric and Kroos.
I don't even want to talk about Valverde. He is what he is. That's it. You can hate anyone but Valverde. It doesn't matter which club you support; as long as you love football, you have to love him. That's it.
| Minutes | 90 |
|---|---|
| Touches | 54 |
| Goal | 1 |
| Passing Accuracy | 90% (36/40) |
| Dribble | 100% |
| Long ball | 2/3 |
| Tackles | 100% |
| Ball Recoveries | 6 |
| Aerial Duels won | 75% (3/4) |
| 80% Ground Duels won | (4/5) |
| Clearences | 2 |
| Interceptions | 2 |
| Headed clearences | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 0 |
