Real Madrid continued its excellent week on Saturday with a 2-0 home victory against bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in La Liga action.
Real Madrid, which won a crucial Sunday match at Sevilla and beat Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday to advance to the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, welcomed the Colchoneros to the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium on Saturday night in a clash that they needed to win to stay around in the La Liga title race.
Atletico, which came into the match as La Liga leaders, wasted an opportunity to create distance between themselves and their cross-town rival in their first loss of the season.
Los Blancos took an early lead after a pair of previous scoring opportunities were denied Jan Oblak. Toni Kross delivered a perfect corner which found Casemiro’s head and was headed into the net in the 15th minute.
The teams reached the half with Real Madrid leading 1-0 and Atletico trying but unable to find scoring opportunities.
The game was put away in the 63rd minute when a Dani Carvajal shot hit the post, but bounced off of the leg of Atletico keeper Jan Oblak. This put Real Madrid up 2-0 and gave them a lead that they would not relinquish.
Atletico’s lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table has now slipped to just 3 points. They will host Elche next weekend, while Real Madrid will travel to Athletic Club.
