Atletico Madrid delivered a stunning performance against their city rivals, Real Madrid, defeating them 5-2 in a thrilling La Liga derby at the Metropolitano Stadium. This victory marked Real Madrid’s first defeat of the season and the first loss for new coach Xabi Alonso, who expressed disappointment in his team’s performance.
The final bout began with Atletico quickly jumping out to an advantage. On new signing Robin Le Normand’s Atletico debut he opened the scoring for the Spaniards in the 14th minute, blasting home a sweet header from a corner. As the players adjusted, Real Madrid took advantage of the opportunity and equalized in the 25th minute. Kylian Mbappe calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner after a brilliant, rapid counterattack.
As the match continued, it was the home side Real Madrid who striking first, with Arda Guller firing them in front on 36 minutes with a brilliant volley. Atletico Madrid had no intention of rolling over. Julian Alvarez converted a penalty kick in the 50th minute to level the score at 2-2. Alvarez’s first goal came after a foul inside the box, showcasing Atletico’s resilience.
In the 64 th minute, Alvarez gave a special performance again. With skill and precision, he curled a sublime free kick into the top corner of Bayern’s net, turning the tide 3-2 in favor of Atletico. Late in the first half, Alexander Sorloth doubled the lead, heading the ball into an empty net in stoppage time. That brought the score up to 4-2.
Antoine Griezmann whisked away Atletico’s glorious triumph with a brilliant strike in stoppage time. Real Madrid are now the ones left on the back foot after being handed a heavy defeat. The victory propelled Atletico Madrid into fourth place in La Liga, level on 12 points.
Xabi Alonso reflected on his team’s performance, stating, “We were bad at everything. We couldn’t string passes together, we couldn’t win duels, we couldn’t create chances.” He acknowledged the need for improvement and emphasized that this was part of a larger process: “This is a process. We’re in a phase where we’re building an identity. We will get better, for sure.”
