Mbappe Secures Draw in Madrid Derby

Kylian Mbappe scored a second-half goal to offset Julian Alvarez’s first-half opener for the visiting team, thus Real Madrid saved a 1-1 draw against city rivals Atletico Madrid in LaLiga on Saturday.

That kept Real top of LaLiga on 50 points one ahead of Atletico in second who lost a chance to surpass them. Third with 45 points, Barcelona visits Sevilla on Sunday to try to reduce the title race’s difference.

In a story of two halves at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, Atletico dominated the first 45 minutes and took the lead when Alvarez converted a 35th minute penalty after Aurelien Tchouameni fouled Samuel Lino inside the area.

Real rallied back following the half, Mbappe rebounding in the 50th minute to tie the score. They were disappointed, though, in their bid to seize a victory by an imperious Jan Oblak, who made a series of breathtaking saves.

Having won 19 of their previous 21 games in all competitions, Diego Simeone’s Atletico arrived in great form and demonstrated why they had the greatest defence in Europe’s top five leagues with 15 goals surrendered in 23 games.

Simeone’s team was once again rock-solid at the rear on Saturday, despite missing defensive stalwart Robin Le Normand to suspension, so frustrating Real’s brilliant offence who without a single attempt on target in the first half.

Winger Lino and forward Alvarez were a continual threat down the left channel, frequently highlighting the shortcomings of Lucas Vazquez and Tchouameni who started in a depleted Real defence without their top four defenders due to injuries.

In the 25th minute, Atletico’s players angrily protested a studs-up challenge on Pablo Barrios by Dani Ceballos to the referee, requesting a straight red. But Cesar Soto Grado rated merely a yellow.

Protest

Five minutes later, Atletico heard their protests heard when Tchouameni left a foot in on Lino as the ball came into the box in a rapid counter-attack. The referee first missed the foul, but he pointed to the penalty spot after he was summoned to check the play in the VAR booth.

While Thibaut Courtois dove low, cold-blooded Alvarez held his nerve under thunderous booing from the sold-out Santiago Bernabeu crowd, clearly nailing his penalty down the middle.

Lino and Alvarez paid a great cost since Real returned livelier after the break, with Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo shining in the channels. They missed golden chances that should have given the guests a more comfortable lead.

When Rodrygo went past two opponents on the right flank and crossed to Jude Bellingham, who sliced his first contact strike from close-range, it took them five minutes to get the equaliser. Gimenez blocked the rebound, which landed on Kylian Mbappe’s blasted home the loose ball.

Real Madrid went all out for the three points, running at Oblak—he repelled close-range attempts from Vinicius, Rodrygo, Mbappe, Bellingham, who also had a strike off the crossbar, to guarantee Atletico’s point.