Early morning of September 30 (Vietnam time), Real Madrid will visit Atletico Madrid in round 8 of La Liga 2024-2025. This is the first El derbi Madrileno match of this season.
After Barcelona's surprise 4-2 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday, Real Madrid have the chance to close the gap to their rivals to just one point if they win at Atletico.
Inside a frenetic stadium, the two teams started cautiously. Julian Alvarez, playing his first derby for Atletico, had the first chance of the game in the ninth minute when he beat Antonio Rudiger and tested Thibaut Courtois from a tight angle.
It took Los Blancos until the 17th minute to make goalkeeper Jan Oblak work, with Federico Valverde's long-range shot.
As usual in a big match of the capital Madrid, there were many fierce tackles throughout the first half. And although quite exciting because of the derby nature, the match was somewhat disjointed.
Oblak continued to be made to work, denying Jude Bellingham's effort, before Dani Carvajal's close-range header from a corner was blocked.
Real Madrid - without the injured Kylian Mbappe - continued to play better after the break. Rodrygo Goes met Luka Modric's pass on the edge of the box but his shot went over the bar.
Despite coach Diego Simeone making a change at the start of the second half, Carlo Ancelotti's side took the lead. In the 64th minute, Vinicius Junior sent in a cross from the right wing, which fell to Eder Militao, who calmly controlled the ball before scoring the opening goal.
The goal caused tension in the stands and referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer asked the players to leave the field for nearly 20 minutes after several objects were thrown towards Courtois' goal area.
Vinicius returned refreshed, and after getting past Jose Maria Gimenez, Oblak had to run long to clear the ball from outside the box around the post.
Atletico stepped up their attack in stoppage time and finally found an equalizer. In the 90+5 minute, Angel Correa received a pass from Javi Galan and finished well after getting past Courtois.
The effort was initially ruled out for offside but VAR confirmed the Argentine was still standing above the last defender.
The drama continued until the last minute, when Marcos Llorente of the home team received a red card in the 90+9 minute.
With a 1-1 draw, Real Madrid has 18 points, ranking 2nd and 3 points behind Barca. Atletico has 16 points, ranking 3rd, while the next 4 teams all have 14 points.
