Madrid lost the lead at the Metropolitano, weighed down by a horrible start in both halves, with a paper defender. Atlético already led 2-0 in the 18th minute and then managed without too many problems to withstand the attacks of a fairly harmless Madrid, who conceded another goal in the first minute of the second half. Morata, with a double, joined the former players who have done a lot of good for his former team.
If Ancelotti is recognizable for anything, it is because he improvises little. He rarely goes off script and some of the times he has played at inventing the shot it has backfired; the most famous when he put Modric as a center forward in a classic and Barcelona beat him 0-4 at the Bernabéu.
For the Madrid derby Ancelotti didn’t go that far but he changed the drawing and deployed a team with five midfielders and a single forward, Rodrygo. The Vinícius threat came to nothing because the Brazilian was dropped from the squad in the morning.
The coach’s idea is that his team had the ball and controlled the tempo of the game and they had that, but what he could not imagine was such a clamorous defensive fragility, especially in the center, where Alaba completely foundered.
Atlético did fulfill its work plan. He played the game he wanted and it was the team of a lifetime, what Simeone wants: disciplined and a fighter at the back and a counterpuncher at the slightest opportunity.
Atlético was never worried about possession of the ball. He came to the game in a hurry and that always gives him extra courage. The start was what Atlético dreamed of. Already in the third minute, a cross from Lino caught Alaba sleeping and Morata’s header beat Kepa. Other times Madrid started losing almost in the locker room, like against Almería, Getafe or Real Sociedad. It seems like the whites’ cross this season: a calamitous staging.
The goal against so early did not wake up Madrid but led to a very nervous first fifteen minutes, where Atlético did a lot of damage on the wings. In the midst of the visitors’ depression, the second goal arrived, also in a very similar way, a cross from the wing by Saúl and a header by Griezmann.
It could have been even worse for Madrid because after half an hour Saúl stood up to Kepa and the Basque goalkeeper blocked his shot and prevented the bleeding from increasing to an alarming extent.
It is not uncommon for teams to grow from a save by their goalkeeper. Madrid did it because they established their game and began to press the opponent by going deeper and giving the ball more speed.
His improvement took effect immediately. Valverde had a header to score and in the 34th minute Kroos caught a rebound on the edge of the area and hit a tight shot against the post that made it 2-1.
The last ten minutes of the first half were an ordeal for Atlético, locked in their area and totally at the mercy of Madrid, owner and lord of the game at that moment.
The tying goal was called. In the midst of a white storm the score came 2-2 in the 41st minute by Camavinga, but it was annulled by the VAR due to Rüdiger’s previous offside. Modric protested and received a yellow card. Already in the addition Giménez hunted down Rodrygo, who was going alone on one wing. Alberola Rojas left the action in yellow but if it had been red nothing would happen either.
Ancelotti changed the drawing for the second half. He left Modric in the dugout and put Joselu into action. The whites switched to their most usual scheme this season, with two strikers. However, its implementation was just as horrifying as in the first part. In the first minute, a new cross into the area by Saúl was headed by Morata to make it 3-1.
Once again Madrid saw the score very against them. This time his game lacked the freshness of the last minutes of the first half and at the hour mark Ancelotti made a triple substitution. The two full-backs left and Nacho and Mendy entered. The midfielder was also changed: Tchouaméni for Camavinga. Then it would be Brahim’s turn for Kroos.
Madrid pressed until the end, but with little precision against a very comfortable Atlético. Oblak got a good shot off Brahim and Madrid lost the lead in a match that ended in a brawl due to an ugly and unnecessary challenge by Bellingham on Correa in added time that ended with a yellow card and could have been something more.
