Real Madrid was left frustrated by Diego Simeone's men as the match ended with the scores level at Santiago Bernabeu. With a resolve to get close to the league leaders Barcelona, Real Madrid stepped on the pitch to reduce the gap between both teams to five points. However, things didn't pan out as they had initially thought they would. Two set pieces were enough to decide the fate of this Madrid derby.
Atletico went down to 10 men as the clock struck the 64th-minute mark. The 27-year-old Argentinian attacker Angel Correa was shown a straight red card after he elbowed Antonio Rudiger off the ball. Correa pushed his arm on Rudiger's chest as the former Chelsea man fell straight on the ground in pain.
On any other day, Real Madrid would have easily put two or three goals past Atletico's or any other team's defence. However, in this case, Atletico held their ground and breached the host's defence in the 78th minute of the game. The French wizard Antoine Griezmann produced a delightful cross from a set piece and Jose Maria Jimenez rose high to head the ball into the back of the net.
With time running out Los Blancos, they shifted their gears to find the equalizer. In the 85th minute, Carlo Ancelotti's gamble paid off as the 18-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez levelled the game following a cross from the Croatian maestro Luka Modric. After playing an extra game Real Madrid are now seven points behind Xavi's Barcelona.
Barcelona will be keen to extend this gap to 10 points as they will face Almeria which is struggling in the relegation zone. If Almeria manages to produce an upset then they will be out of the relegation zone and Valencia will take their place in the bottom zone.
With Barcelona potentially running away with an unassailable lead, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti still believes that "It's more complicated but it's not goodbye, we have to fight until the end and see what happens," the manager said in a post-match press conference.
The La Liga title race will heat up in the upcoming weeks.
( With inputs from ANI )
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