Atletico Madrid missed a golden opportunity to go 8 points clear of city rivals Real Madrid in the Madrid derby at the Wanda Metrpolitano in Spain’s La Liga.
Atletico are currently the league leaders in Spain’s first division of football after 25 games, 3 points ahead of Barcelona but the Madrid side does have a game in hand.
It is too tight to call the title race at the moment with only a maximum of 8 points separating 1st to 3rd and still all to play for.
The home team had its best chance in years to win at the Wanda Metropolitano against Los Blancos as they had failed to win in the previous 9 La Liga games against Real, having drawn 5 and lost 4.
Karim Benzema made sure it was 10 games very late on in the game to pick up a point for the visitors who stay in the hunt with an outside chance.
Luis Suarez scored for Atleti and leads the race for the Pichichi. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Luiz Suarez made it 10 goals in 13 league games against Real Madrid as he pounced on Llorente’s through ball to score with a comfortable finish with his right foot past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
There was slight controversy in the 42nd minute as there was a penalty check by VAR for a hand ball by Felipe in the Atletico Madrid box from a Real Madrid corner. The ball did strike Felipe’s outstretched arm clearly but the referee did not deem it to be a penalty, which angered Real manager Zinedine Zidane.
Atleti went into the break with a goal advantage after Suarez’s goal in the 15th minute.
Madrid did not threaten the home side much in the first half and needed a strong response in the 2nd half.
It was Atletico who had a chance to double their lead as Carrasco’s shot needed Courtois to be at his best to make a good save to keep it at 1-0 in the 56th minute.
A minute later, Courtois was called into action once more by Suarez as he pulled off another fine save.
Real finally threated Atleti’s goal in the 81st minute that saw Jan Oblak make an incredible save. Vinicius Junior picked out an unmarked Karim Benzema in the centre whose shot was somehow saved by the Atletico keeper.
Oblak had to react quickly to save the follow up shot by the Frenchman and he did so brilliantly to keep his team up 1-0.
The pressure did pay, however, as it was Benzema who made amends for his misses in the 81st minute after a neat 1-2 to Casemiro to then score a simple goal into an empty net in the 88th minute of the game to salvage a point.
Atletico Madrid are on their quest to win their 11th La Liga title and Real Madrid, the current holders, have kept their hopes alive after picking up a point against the leaders.
Barcelona have been on a tear in the league and are breathing down Atleti’s neck. Can Diego Simeone’s side cope with the pressure and hold on to the top spot with 12-13 games to go?
Spain’s battle for supremacy is entering its final leg. Don’t miss it.
