Real Madrid won the duel against Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Spanish League continued on Sunday (13/12).
Coach Zinedine Zidane fielded a trio of Lucas Vazquez, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior as starters at Real’s front lines in a 4-3-3 scheme. They are supported by Luka Modric, Casemiro, and Toni Kroos from the second line.
Meanwhile, coach Diego Simeone is still loyal to the 4-4-2 grip. The quartet Marcos Llorente, Hector Herrera, Koke and Yannick Carrasco in midfield became the link with the duo Luis Suarez and Joao Felix in the front row.
Playing at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium, Madrid, who came down with their best strength, dominated the game from the early minutes.
Luka Modric already made a chance in the 7th minute. Kick from outside the penalty box is still off the mark.
Likewise with Karim Benzema’s opportunity three minutes later, to no avail.
Madrid opened the scoring on 15 minutes through Casemiro. Welcoming Toni Kroos’s corner, Casemiro headed the ball and lodged in the lower left corner of Jan Oblak.
The goal made Madrid calmer in controlling the match.
Meanwhile, Atletico had difficulty developing the match. The Rojiblancos had trouble creating chances.
On the other hand, despite controlling possession, Madrid also struggled several times to penetrate the Atletico defense.
Until the first half ended, Madrid was able to maintain excellence.
In the second half, Madrid were still in control of the game. Several opportunities were created, including Sergio Ramos’ free kick in the 51st minute, failing to meet the target.
Three minutes later, Atletico had a ripe opportunity when a pull from the right headed for Thomas Lemar near Thibaut Courtois’ goal, unfortunately his close-range shot only hit the side of the net.
Los Blancos increased the advantage in 61 minutes. Dani Carvajal, who got the Atletico player’s discarded ball, kicked the ball from outside the penalty box which tore Atletico’s net.
Carvajal’s long-range shot hit the post and then hit Oblak and entered the goal.
Atletico tried to catch up. One good opportunity came from Saul Niguez’s header in the 79th minute, his header from close range was blocked by Courtois.
There are no more goals created by each team. The 2-0 score for Madrid’s victory lasted until it broke up.
Real now have 23 points from 12 matches. Meanwhile, Atletico were forced to lose their first defeat of the season, and still have 26 points.
In the middle of the week, the two teams are waiting for another match. Real will host Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, while Atletico will play away against 4th division CE Cardassar in the Copa del Rey.
