Real Madrid took a very emotional Madrid derby 2-1 against Atlético Madrid Sunday. There were a lot of positive elements on display for Real Madrid this weekend. On the other side of the spectrum Atlético may have shown that they are not yet ready to take on big games. This year Atlético features one of its best rosters in recent memory, however they haven’t been able to find the desired consistency in La Liga. With the way that things tend to play out in Spain this loss to Real Madrid may have put them out of contention for the league title this early in the season.
As we mentioned there are a lot of things to like about Real Madrid. The main positive for the defending La Liga and Champions League champions is that they found a way to have someone other than Karim Benzema score goals. Rodrygo was able to open the scoring after a great one two play that put him in front of Jan Oblak. All he had to do was blast his shot past the Slovenian to make the score 1-0.
BRILLIANT FINISH BY RODRYGO TO PUT REAL MADRID UP 1-0.#LALIGA pic.twitter.com/peDipNNvdg
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 18, 2022
There Is Plenty of FirePower Offensively In Real Madrid Even If Benzema Is Not On The Pitch
The other goal that Real Madrid scored came from another 1-2 play that had Vinicius find open space behind the Atletico defense once again. He wasn’t able to finish after the decent Jan Oblak pressure. The ball came off the post, and onto Federico Valverde’s foot to find the back of the net. The two goals were the only two shots on goal that the team had in the entire first half.
Valverde cleans it up to put Real Madrid up 2-0!#LaLiga pic.twitter.com/uoWorWpg68
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 18, 2022
From there Madrid continued to feel content allowing Atletico to possess the ball. They once again showed that this team’s true strength is the defense. Even though they allowed Atletico to possess the ball for most of the match they never allowed them to feel comfortable playing outside of the box. Modric, and Toni Kross proved once again that they can still get the job done despite the fact that they are getting up there in age. The only doubt that we currently have is whether that older Real Madrid midfield will be able to stay healthy throughout the year. If that’s the case the team is going to have a very good chance of going back to back in both La Liga and the Champions League.
Where Does The Loss Leave Atlético Madrid?
The loss leaves Atlético Madrid very much behind the 8-ball when it comes to La Liga. They are currently 8 points off the lead. In La Liga that’s a difference that’s very hard to make up. Even though we seemingly still have a full year to go. In the history of the Madrid derbi there have been very few instances where it could be argued that Atletico had a more talented team on the pitch than Real Madrid. This was one of those times. Antoine Griezmann started for the first time this season for the team, yet his presence did not make much of a difference.
It looks like the team is still trying to find a more offensive identity, and that has caused them to lose some of the solid defensive presence that this team was known for. They had the same issue against Bayern Leverkusen this week in the Champions League. They dominated the game, but were beat on two counters. If Atlético can’t find more offensive efficiency, and defense solidarity they are going to struggle this year. Even though on paper they have one of the most talented teams that they’ve ever had. At least in the Diego Simeone era.
