Mbappé fires equaliser as Real and Atlético share spoils in Madrid derby | La Liga

The match that was built up as a battle of the superheroes ended without a winner, all set up for a sequel instead. Kylian Mbappé and Julián Álvarez had looked out from Madrid’s front pages on the morning of the derby, the media turning all Marvel Comics, and they will likely be there on Sunday too. The man they liken to a Mutant Turtle and the striker they call the Spider scored one each as another derby finished 1-1 leaving these two rivals first and second in La Liga, a single point between them, left to fight another day.

Between them Mbappé and Álvarez have scored 37 goals already in their debut seasons; on a night that took a while to get going but did eventually become a real contest, they took that tally to thirty-nine. It began with Atlético in the ascendency and ended with Madrid on top, the clock running down and expectation running high, but ultimately there was no final, dramatic scene or epic end, just a title race that gets ever tighter. A win on Sunday would put Barcelona right in the fight with them.

If Atlético started on the front foot, the first half was a slow burn; the visitors were in control but there was a caution about them. While Real had no shots on target by half time, Atlético had only one, and it has been sufficient to give them the lead. It came when Javi Galán’s cross from the left ran through the area and Aurélien Tchouaméni put a leg out and trod on Samu Lino’s foot. At first it had gone unseen but there was a pause as the referee, Cesar Soto Grado put his finger in his ear. It had looked light, a little lazy too, a leg put out for no real reason, but the contact was clear and when the referee eventually went to the screen, he decided it was enough.

From the spot, Álvarez clipped in the opener. Atlético tightened their control; the frustration might have been that it did not lead to more goals. It wasn’t so much that they were missing opportunities: there was no catalogue of chances no shot count, and not one save from Thibaut Courtois. It was more that the positions they worked were then wasted, an imprecision in those key moments, the touch lacking when it was needed most. That was a flaw they would not shake off all night and one they would pay for.

If the teams had gone off to a strange silence at half-time, maybe even a resignation, when when they came back out the noise levels soon rose and Real awoke. They equalised fast, Rodrygo coming in from the right to set up Jude Bellingham whose from close range was blocked but dropped to Mbappé to score. Next Bellingham hit the bar with a header and then had another saved by Jan Oblak. It was not just that this was a different game now; it was that it was a game, a derby the way it’s supposed to be, loud and open, a tension to it all.

Vinícius Júnior and Mbappé had been activated. Rodrygo was an even more significant threat. Bellingham led them forward. Atlético were under pressure but did find their way out at times, usually on the right when Marcos Llorente and Giuliano Simeone then Nahuel Molina ran. A pattern had been set. Giuliano slipped when Álvarez set up a superb opportunity, and then Llorente got in on the right, deep into the area, only for his pull back to be cut out by Tchouaméni. From the same wing, Álvarez was close to providing for Antoine Griezmann.

At the other end, Dani Ceballos shot at Oblak, who saved a Tchouaméni header and then a Rodrygo strike at the near post. When Vinícius went for goal at the other post, the keeper pushed over. An Mbappé effort lacked the power of the run that preceded it. The momentum slowed a little but with eight minutes left Vinícius quickened the pace again, escaped two lunges and clipped a ball to Rodrygo, whose volley flew wide. From no shots on target in the first half, Real were now up at eight band with a single minute to go it might have been nine and the victory. Fede Valverde dashed through and slipped in Mbappé. This was the moment, but in came another of this cast, Oblak flying at his feet to deny this film its finale.