Rafa Benitez got his first taste of the Madrid derby as a Coach, but it wasn’t a victorious one as Atletico Madrid once again nullified Real Madrid’s attacking threat and hit back hard in the latter stages of the match.
Despite the change in Coach and style, Los Blancos still struggle to topple their neighbours and have won only one of the past nine meetings between themselves and Atleti. It was a game in which neither team as a whole were dominant for the entire 90 minutes, allowing individual players to come to the fore.
One who stood out, not just in the derby but the season, is Keylor Navas. The Costa Rican buffed his already-impressive penalty record, having denied Antoine Griezmann from the spot with a save to his left. With two penalties saved and seven stopped out of the last 17 he has faced in La Liga, the goalkeeper is gaining a reputation as a menace for penalty takers.
On the other hand, Angel Correa’s stock continues to rise after a highly-influential first half boosted comparisons with compatriot Sergio Aguero, while his replacement Luciano Vietto staked a claim for a starting spot as he fired in the all-important equaliser.
Los Blancos full-back Dani Carvajal was arguably the best attacking player of the first half, terrorising Filipe Luis and putting the ball on a plate for Karim Benzema to score the opener before departing due to injury.
Surprisingly enough, Cristiano Ronaldo has now only scored in one of Real’s seven League matches this season. Of course, in that one match, he put five goals past Espanyol and has 10 overall, so he still knows where the goal is. Such a return would be more than acceptable for any other forward, but on the lofty perch on which Ronado has been placed, it can be considered a slump.
Yet Atletico did another great job of stopping his the threat, having now kept him quiet for the last four derbies. Their attempts to nullify him left more space for the likes of Benzema to tap into. Luckily for Madrid, the French striker has hit form at the right time, and his early header marked his fifth goal in six matches.
His Coach Benitez can be accused of being slightly pragmatic, and Benzema didn’t hold back in making such a point his post-match interview. With 10 minutes left on the clock, the scores lvel and the game stretched, he was hauled off for midfielder Mateo Kovacic. “He took me off to defend the result,” he muttered.
The substitutions were indicative of the outcome both Coaches wanted. Diego Simeone made three attacking changes, unleashing Jackson Martinez, Luciano Vietto and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco from the bench in the second half.
“We’re left with the feeling that we dropped two points because we were close to winning, and we created more chances,” lamented Cholo.
In a game which madridistas daren’t lose, Benitez can perhaps be forgiven for settling for a draw. While the fans were rightly gunning for the victory, despite Real’s poor record in Madrid derbies, it’s a result that doesn’t work out too badly for either outfit in the grand scheme of things, especially as none of the top six in La Liga won this weekend. Who says Spanish football is predictable?
