Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Title challenge over for defending champions?

Real Madrid played out a 1-1 draw in the Madrid derby, with their rivals, Atletico. The two teams were unable to break each other down in the early stages of the game. 

Jose Maria Gimenez earned the lead for his side with a header from a free-kick situation. Antoine Griezmann provided his seventh La Liga assist of the season, finding his teammate’s run and beating Thibaut Courtois to silence the Santiago Bernabeu. 

Real Madrid’s title hopes dealt massive blow with derby draw 

The introduction of Luka Modric from the bench was the key change that Carlo Ancelotti made to get the equaliser. He also threw on 18-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez, who managed to score the equalising goal. 

18-year-old Álvaro Rodríguez's first Real Madrid goal is an 85th-minute equalizer in the Madrid derby 🌟

It was only his second La Liga appearance. pic.twitter.com/Zt9kVzXjAS

— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 25, 2023

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Modric found the youngster from the corner, and the tall striker headed past Jan Oblak to score his first La Liga goal. The Uruguayan is very highly rated by Ancelotti, and is showing why he could be the right deputy to Karim Benzema. 

The Frenchman struggled for chances in the cagey affair, but things changed after the introduction of another centre-forward in the game. Even though Atletico Madrid played with ten men, they were able to take a point away from the Bernabeu, solidifying their fourth placed spot for the time being.

But in the end, they only picked up a point from the game, leaving Real Madrid potentially ten points behind rivals, Barcelona at the top of the table. 

Being so far behind Barca, who have only let in seven goals in the league, Real’s title challenge might be over already. But, they are still in contention for the Champions League, as they are already one foot into the quarter finals, defeating Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash.