You’d have to go back to 2016 to see the last time Atletico Madrid beat their rivals Real Madrid in the Madrid derby. Los Blancos managed to hand the visitors their first defeat of the campaign as they won against Atletico 2-0 at home.
Casemiro managed to head home a corner, and Jan Oblak conceded a rare own goal to go behind two goals for the very first time this season. Atletico had only conceded one goal in two of their victories previously.
However, the Whites managed to get the better of their neighbours once again to break their unbeaten streak. Atletico now find themselves in second place, behind Real Sociedad. However, they have two games in hand and have six points to play for.Â
If they manage to win those two games, they could be a fair margin ahead of the rest of the league even if Sociedad maintain their current run of form.
Going into the game, Zinedine Zidane needed the win much more than Diego Simeone due to the recent pressures created on his shoulders from the defeats to Valencia and Shakhtar on two occasions.
The Frenchman managed to motivate his team to victory and also managed to shut the opposition out, giving them a taste of their own medicine in the process.
Joao Felix was very animated after being substituted around the hour mark, and that just goes to show how well-motivated Diego Simeone’s team is and how important they take their matches.Â
Real currently find themselves behind their city rivals despite their victory over them and have played 12 games so far this season. They have earned 23 points up until this point, and have three more to play for before being level with the rest of the teams.
Los Blancos are in the unusual position of being the underdogs this season, while the red and white club are the favourites to win the league this season.
