Gareth Bale injured as Real and Atlético fail to draw blood in Madrid derby
For all the talent on the pitch, in the end it was the men wearing gloves who decided the derby. For the sixth successive year, Atlético Madrid left the Santiago Bernabéu unbeaten in the league. Jan Oblak and Thibaut Courtois departed undefeated too: there were three one-on-ones, two for the visitors, one for the home side, but these two goalkeepers, arguably the finest on the planet, stood tall. And so a game that Atlético edged in the first half and Real edged in the second, Gareth Bale having been withdrawn injured at half-time, ended even.
Atlético started brightly too, Saúl Ñíguez bringing a save from Courtois after just two minutes and Antoine Griezmann’s overhead kick slicing wide three minutes later. The Frenchman probably should have put Atlético ahead on 18 minutes. Released by Koke, dashing through on the left behind the Madrid defence, he ran into the area, where Courtois came to meet him. With the outside of his left foot Griezmann tried to flick the ball beyond the Belgian, but it came back off his head.
Continue reading...from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/29/real-madrid-atletico-madrid-la-liga-match-report
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