In the sixth meeting between these two teams just in this season, it looked like it was set up to be a good contest. Atletico Madrid have been the dominant team in this fixture throughout the season, carrying an unbeaten run against their rivals with them into this game. Real Madrid had scraped through against Shalke in the last round, winning on the aggregate score after they lost at the Bernabeu. Atletico did gain their place in the quarter finals due to penalties in the last round, but still looked like they could cause Real some problems, and they had the home crowd behind them.
Real started strongly despite this poor record and had a couple of really good chances in the opening exchanges between the teams. James Rodriguez won the ball back for his team on the edge of the 18 yard box, and played in Daniel Carvajal who took his shot well and powered it towards goal but it was well saved by Jan Oblak. Gareth Bale, who isn't having the greatest season, had a great chance as well as he sprinted after the ball into a lot of space and away from his defender but he couldn't help the ball find its way past the Oblak who got out well the deny him. Cristiano Ronaldo soon had a chance from a free kick that was a way out from the box, but he still managed to drag his shot across the ground to the left of the wall forcing Oblak to get down low to hold onto to the ball.
It took until the 15 minute mark for Atletico to register their first attack of the game. However, the team didn't look good going forward and Real managed to cut out the cross without any real problems. The home team looked nervous whenever they had the chance to travel up the pitch and their forward players just weren't able to hold the ball up when they did receive the ball. Sergio Ramos did well to cut out any passes that came up towards Mario Mandzukic as well, much to the frustration of the forward. They did get their first proper chance when Mandzukic glanced the ball down for Antoine Griezmann who tried to set up Guillherme Siqueira, but the final ball was over hit and the chance went to waste.
Real Madrid did dominate again just after the half hour mark in the game though. Luka Modric managed to keep the ball under control as he was under pressure and made a short pass to Bale who was allowed once again to run at the defence. He decided to take on the long range shot which bobbled along the ground towards the target, but Oblak was there to make the save once again. Another long range shot came, this time from Rodriguez, which followed a corner. The ball eventually landed at his feet outside of the box and he curled the ball with the outside of his left boot towards the left side of the goal, causing Oblak to pull off a great save after he saw the shot late.
These chances seemed to wake up the Atletico team slightly. Ramos tried his luck on the edge of this box after trying to make a calm pass up to his midfield. Gabi intercepted and headed the ball down to Griezmann who was stood waiting and on the turn took on the shot which he could only direct straight at Iker Casillas. On the stroke of half time, they got the last sight on goal of the half as Griezmann could have come close again with a header, but the ball played into him was a little too high and he couldn't direct it towards goal.
Atletico started the second half the brighter of the two teams and had a lot more appetite since coming out after the break. Their possession was more controlled and they became more compact in defence. Juanfran had the chance to run at Rodriguez down the right side and put in a good cross which was met by Arda Turin, whose header was close but painfully wide of the post. The closest chance that followed this was after Toni Kroos was allowed time and space on the ball which he used he used to his advantage as he fired his shot across goal which Oblak once again is equal to.
The chances seemed to fizzle out after this after the true nature of a derby game seemed to set in. Strong challenges went flying in, some with malice, some without, but equally as tough. Mandzukic felt like Ramos had thrown an elbow at him, causing a huge cut in between his eyes, followed by his return to the pitch and a challenge led with the elbow himself. Carvajal was at the middle of some controversy after he appeared to bite Mandzukic before throwing a punch at his stomach, which wasn't spotted by the referee.
Eventually, the game of football resumed with Atletico being the stronger team out of the two in terms of chances created. GodÃn had a chance which came through a throw in. Originally, he missed the header, but was lucky enough to find the ball drop at his feet but he couldn't keep the ball down and it sailed over the crossbar. Just before full time, a wave of Atletico corners caused Casillas and his defenders a lot of problems, but eventually he managed to claw away the chance and keep the game at 0-0.
This result definitely will look better to the home team as they go into the second leg of the tie next week after they managed to stop Real from getting that extremely valuable away goal. Atletico will feel confident as well as they continue their long unbeaten run against their city rivals and they have performed well at the Bernabeu in recent games. All they need now is an away goal to really take the tie into their own hands.
Real started strongly despite this poor record and had a couple of really good chances in the opening exchanges between the teams. James Rodriguez won the ball back for his team on the edge of the 18 yard box, and played in Daniel Carvajal who took his shot well and powered it towards goal but it was well saved by Jan Oblak. Gareth Bale, who isn't having the greatest season, had a great chance as well as he sprinted after the ball into a lot of space and away from his defender but he couldn't help the ball find its way past the Oblak who got out well the deny him. Cristiano Ronaldo soon had a chance from a free kick that was a way out from the box, but he still managed to drag his shot across the ground to the left of the wall forcing Oblak to get down low to hold onto to the ball.
It took until the 15 minute mark for Atletico to register their first attack of the game. However, the team didn't look good going forward and Real managed to cut out the cross without any real problems. The home team looked nervous whenever they had the chance to travel up the pitch and their forward players just weren't able to hold the ball up when they did receive the ball. Sergio Ramos did well to cut out any passes that came up towards Mario Mandzukic as well, much to the frustration of the forward. They did get their first proper chance when Mandzukic glanced the ball down for Antoine Griezmann who tried to set up Guillherme Siqueira, but the final ball was over hit and the chance went to waste.
Real Madrid did dominate again just after the half hour mark in the game though. Luka Modric managed to keep the ball under control as he was under pressure and made a short pass to Bale who was allowed once again to run at the defence. He decided to take on the long range shot which bobbled along the ground towards the target, but Oblak was there to make the save once again. Another long range shot came, this time from Rodriguez, which followed a corner. The ball eventually landed at his feet outside of the box and he curled the ball with the outside of his left boot towards the left side of the goal, causing Oblak to pull off a great save after he saw the shot late.
These chances seemed to wake up the Atletico team slightly. Ramos tried his luck on the edge of this box after trying to make a calm pass up to his midfield. Gabi intercepted and headed the ball down to Griezmann who was stood waiting and on the turn took on the shot which he could only direct straight at Iker Casillas. On the stroke of half time, they got the last sight on goal of the half as Griezmann could have come close again with a header, but the ball played into him was a little too high and he couldn't direct it towards goal.
Atletico started the second half the brighter of the two teams and had a lot more appetite since coming out after the break. Their possession was more controlled and they became more compact in defence. Juanfran had the chance to run at Rodriguez down the right side and put in a good cross which was met by Arda Turin, whose header was close but painfully wide of the post. The closest chance that followed this was after Toni Kroos was allowed time and space on the ball which he used he used to his advantage as he fired his shot across goal which Oblak once again is equal to.
The chances seemed to fizzle out after this after the true nature of a derby game seemed to set in. Strong challenges went flying in, some with malice, some without, but equally as tough. Mandzukic felt like Ramos had thrown an elbow at him, causing a huge cut in between his eyes, followed by his return to the pitch and a challenge led with the elbow himself. Carvajal was at the middle of some controversy after he appeared to bite Mandzukic before throwing a punch at his stomach, which wasn't spotted by the referee.
Eventually, the game of football resumed with Atletico being the stronger team out of the two in terms of chances created. GodÃn had a chance which came through a throw in. Originally, he missed the header, but was lucky enough to find the ball drop at his feet but he couldn't keep the ball down and it sailed over the crossbar. Just before full time, a wave of Atletico corners caused Casillas and his defenders a lot of problems, but eventually he managed to claw away the chance and keep the game at 0-0.
This result definitely will look better to the home team as they go into the second leg of the tie next week after they managed to stop Real from getting that extremely valuable away goal. Atletico will feel confident as well as they continue their long unbeaten run against their city rivals and they have performed well at the Bernabeu in recent games. All they need now is an away goal to really take the tie into their own hands.
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