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Real and Atletico both have had solid starts to this season, and on Saturday they faced each other at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was the second Madrid derby of the season, with the first one ending in Atletico’s favour as they thrashed Real 4-2 to win the UEFA Super Cup.
This encounter was pretty dull, and never really switched gears throughout the 90 minutes, ending in a disappointing 0-0 scoreline.
Jan Oblak and Courtois did their jobs really well and the defences of both teams were very solid, rarely allowing any openings. Here are the 3 reasons why Real Madrid drew against Atletico Madrid.
#1 Atletico’s defence
It is very safe to say that Atletico Madrid has one of the best defensive setups in the world, and on their day it is almost impossible to penetrate their defence. This was one of those days where their defence looked like a fortress with the centre backs Godin and José Giménez at the top of their game.
Godin was at his usual best after committing some uncharacteristic errors in the last few games, and made some top notch tackles and timely clearances, but Giménez was Atletico’s best defender yesterday.
His commitment was there for everyone to see as he tracked back a few times to make up for the errors made by other defenders. Koke also made a few impressive tackles, and it was an overall convincing performance from Atletico Madrid.
#2 Real's lack of firepower while attacking
Although there has been a few disappointing performances against good teams, Real haven’t completely lost their way post CR7. But they faced a strong Atletico Madrid on Saturday, and they have not won against them since 2012-13.
They did not look in any hurry to break their winless streak as they simply lacked any intention to score goals apart from a few runs from Gareth Bale. Karim Benzema continued his woeful form with another goalless display.
Asensio for all the talent he has got is not a consistent goal scorer, and on Saturday struggled a lot to possess the ball for a lengthy period of time. Luka Modrić looked a bit tired on the pitch, and it seemed like the busy schedule is finally taking a toll on his ageing body.
Things got a bit worse when the disappointed home crowd started chanting Cristiano Ronaldo’s name, making their anger at the lack of aggression pretty evident. If Benzema continues to play like this, we might see more of Mariano in the upcoming matches.
#3 Courtois’ world class goalkeeping
When Courtois made the transfer to Real Madrid from Chelsea, many expected him to be Los Blancos’ 1st choice goalkeeper as Navas had a disappointing 2017-18 season, but Navas stepped up his game this season, and has made some great saves from the limited opportunities he has got so far.
The World Cup Golden Glove winner showed his worth to the Madrid faithful with a string of impressive saves on Saturday. He was called into action only 3 minutes into the game with Saul going for a screamer, and he almost scored, but Courtois was alert enough to deny Atletico the lead.
Eight minutes into the game, Griezmann had a great chance to score as there were no defenders separating him from goal. But Courtois showed his class as he made a swift run forward and made himself big to deny a chipped shot from Griezmann.
He once again made a good save to deny Costa’s shot from a dangerous position. This was his best performance in the white shirt so far, and he will be looking to build on this display to cement a permanent position in this team.
