Atletico beat Real Madrid at Bernabeu

Thanks to Griezmann's goal in the 53rd minute, Atletico won 1-0 in the Madrid derby on the evening of February 27.

Griezmann (right) became a hero with the decisive goal. Photo: Reuters

Coming to the Bernabeu as a guest in round 26 of La Liga, Atletico not only showed no fear but also cunningly won all three points. While Real accelerated to prepare to dominate, Antoine Griezmann seized the opportunity to pour cold water on his opponent at the beginning of the second half. Unable to erase the fragile gap in the last 40 minutes of the match, Real had to accept the first defeat under new coach Zinedine Zidane.

The defeat to Atletico could also end Real's hopes of winning the 2015-16 La Liga title. The record-holders are nine points behind leaders Barca, having played a game more. Real's lead over Atletico widened to four points after the Bernabeu game.

As predicted before the match, Real's new young coach Zidane could not surpass his colleague Diego Simeone in terms of tactical cunning. Entering the field with his forte of defensive play, Simeone soon succeeded in cooling down the attacking atmosphere of the trio Ronaldo, Benzema, James Rodriguez. Even when Luka Modric played at his best in midfield, the quartet of Godin, Jimenez, Juanfran, Filipe Luis did not encounter many difficulties in the strikers who scored the most goals since the beginning of the season. The audience even had to wait until the 32nd minute to witness the first shot towards goal: Ronaldo's free kick over the wall was brilliantly pushed out by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

While chances were few and far between, the first half was a time for both goalkeepers to shine. In addition to reacting to Ronaldo’s free kick, Oblak also made several smart saves in the box. Similarly, goalkeeper Keylor Navas gave his teammates complete confidence when he made two consecutive saves in the 40th and 41st minutes.

Unable to find a way into Atletico's goal in the first half, coach Zidane started to let his students attack more dangerously from the beginning of the second half. And this plan could have been a great success if Ronaldo had not missed a delicious opportunity in the 48th minute. At that time, after a favorable pass from Modric, CR7 rushed down to beat goalkeeper Oblak but had to watch the ball go just wide of the post.

Ronaldo rarely had good chances in front of Atletico's goal.

Having missed the opening goal at the start of the second half, Real could not have imagined that it would be their best chance of the entire match. Three minutes later, Atletico launched a sharp counter-attack and scored the decisive goal. From a break in midfield, Antoine Griezmann coordinated a one-two with Filipe Luis and then fired a shot to score right at the 11m mark. The shot was so good that a Real defender stood right in front of him and goalkeeper Navas flew as far as he could but still could not block it.

The unexpected goal was like a "bucket of cold water" poured on Real's attacking enthusiasm. From constantly besieging goalkeeper Oblak's goal, the home team quickly lost their spirit. In the 66th minute, the score almost became 2-0 for Atletico if Navas had not come out in time to narrow Saul Niguez's shooting angle.

With Real Madrid trailing, Ronaldo had two chances to rescue the game but was unlucky. The striker fired two headers into the box and both went straight to goalkeeper Oblak. Having failed to score in the Madrid derby, Ronaldo continues to be second in the race for the top scorer with 22 goals. Barca's Luis Suarez is still leading with 25 goals.

Zidane does not have "enough cards" to beat Simeone.

An important reason for Real's defeat could be the squad. Playing against rival Atletico, coach Zidane was unlucky not to be able to use Gareth Bale again. Striker Karim Benzema was also not in the best form after recovering from injury, even having to leave the field right after the first half. Lacking a suitable replacement, Zidane had to bring in two inexperienced players, Borja Moya and Lucas Vazquez, to reinforce the team in the second half.

With Barca possibly increasing the gap to 12 points after 26 rounds, Real are facing an unpleasant reality in the domestic arena. This could also be the reason for Zidane to be more determined to focus on the opportunity to win the Champions League.

According to VNE