A header from Llorente in the 93rd minute prevented Madrid from taking revenge for their cup elimination. The goal in extremis leaves Atlético with ten points and not thirteen, an advantage that would have already been very significant. The match had the tension of the last derbies and a VAR play in favor of Madrid, a goal disallowed for Savic due to offside by Saúl. The whites surpass Girona by two points and Barcelona by eight with still fifteen games left.
In Madrid the big doubt in the lineup went against Ancelotti's forecasts. Rüdiger, the warrior as the Italian coach defined him, was dropped from the squad due to the discomfort he had been experiencing since Getafe and the center back position alongside Nacho went to Carvajal, who had never played in that position.
But those were not the only problems for Madrid. In the warm-up Vinícius hurt his neck and although his name had been sung in the line-up over the Bernabéu speakers, it was announced that Joselu was going to play, which was not true either because in the end it was Brahim who came out, a change that seemed more logical.
Rodrygo played on the left, Brahim on the right and Bellingham served as a false nine. With that scheme, Madrid dominated with authority the first half hour in which Atlético, with Morata and Griezamnn at the top, and Depay on the bench, had a hard time getting into the game.
With Kroos in charge of the operations in the center of the field and Camavinga as a closing midfielder, Madrid quickly bottled up Atlético. Oblak's goal was in several troubles and Madrid ended up scoring in the 20th through Brahim, their most incisive player and the one who led Riquelme. The man from Malaga resolved a confusing action in the area after a pass from Lucas Vázquez that Bellingham failed to finish. He celebrated the goal by showing all his anger with a little dance with Bellingham.
The goal against made Atlético wake up and soon showed that Madrid without Rüdiger was suffering in the defensive game. Every corner kick by the colchoneros was an ordeal for Madrid because the rivals won all the duels.
Atlético had up to three headers to tie the game. The first for Witsel in an action in which Lunin was left mid-start but was able to rectify. Then, almost immediately Savic had the goal in the clearest opportunity and finally it was Saúl Ñíguez's turn.
The second half began with controversy and again in favor of Madrid. Practically in the first play, Atlético tied with a header from Savic. The referee gave a goal but the linesman had raised the flag. Sánchez Martínez went to consult him and annulled the goal due to Saúl's positional offside, in addition to the fact that he, being in front of Lunin, blocked the vision of the Ukrainian goalkeeper at the moment of the shot.
Then it was Madrid that complained when the Murcian referee did not appreciate that a knockdown by Savic on Bellingham inside the area was a penalty.
In any case, the game was more about a tie for Atlético, with a very withdrawn Madrid that lived on the counterattack. Simeone played it with a triple substitution. Lino, Barrios and Memphis entered. and Morata, De Paul and Saúl left. Later, Correa replaced Koke.
Brahim could have killed the game with a play in which he hit Mario Hermoso and broke Witsel, but he finished poorly. It was his last action in the game because Ancelotti made his first substitution and removed him for Joselu Mato.
Ancelotti's next change was very defensive, something quite unlike him. He retired Rodrygo, who had not had a very brilliant night either, and put Modric into action with the clear objective of holding down the midfield that Atlético was managing at that time with its freshmen players.
The last quarter of an hour of the game was entered with great uncertainty due to the shortness of the result. Now it was Atlético who seemed closest to a tie, but their dominance was not reflected at times either because Lunin had not intervened even once. Already in the added time, when everything predicted a white victory, the tie came. Nacho and Carvajal stared at a ball that came from Memphis and Llorente entered the area like Pedro at home to nail a tie that prevents the League from being closed.
