Atletico Madrid squander their first-half lead as Real Madrid equalize in the dying embers of the game to end it 1-1 at the Vicente Calderon.
Atletico Madrid dominated the early exchanges of the opening half, with Real Madrid unable to get out of their own half. Atletico’s consistent pressure paid off, as they counter-attacked, with Marcos Llorente making an excellent run and pass to Luis Suarez, who finished it excellently.
Real Madrid almost equalized in the 28th minute with a long-range effort from Casemiro, but the Brazilian’s shot was parried away by Jan Oblak. Los Blancos looked very one dimensional in attack and struggled to create a clear opportunity in front of goal in the first half.
Real Madrid showed more urgency in attack post the break, but it was the home side that created the first real opportunity of the second half as Suarez set Carrasco up with a sublime pass, but the Belgian’s shot was blocked well by Thibaut Courtois. The home side continued to create chances in the second half but poor finishing stopped them from extending their lead.
The best chance of the game for Real came in the 79th minute when Vinicius Junior’s pass found Benzema with space inside the box, but Oblak saved the Frenchman’s shot. A minute later Benzema’s free-kick was parried away by the Slovenian keeper. Real Madrid equalized out of nowhere when Casemiro and Benzema combined to level the score for the away team.
Real Madrid forces a draw vs Atlético Madrid on Karim Benzema 88th minute goal. He leads LaLiga with 5 goals in the final 5 minutes of games.
With the draw, Barcelona now have a 45% chance of winning LaLiga while Atlético drop to 40%, according to @FiveThirtyEight's SPI. pic.twitter.com/emlN1ABTla
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 7, 2021
Real Madrid were very lucky to get away with a point today. Let us take a look at how both the teams fared.
Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak: 7/10
Rarely troubled in the first half as Real struggled to create a clear opening, made an excellent double save to deny Benzema an opportunity to level the score, faultless for the equalizer.
Stefan Savic: 7/10
Solid as a rock, commanded and organized his defence rather well and timed his tackles perfectly. Would be gutted after his team let Benzema level the score at the end.
Felipe: 6/10
Dealt with Benzema’s threat very well and won most of the duels against the French striker. But a lapse in concentration towards the end of the game led to Benzema scoring the equalizer.
Mario Hermoso: 6.5/10
Was largely untroubled by Rodrygo and played some wonderful passes forward from defence. Could have done well in stopping Casemiro from getting into a dangerous position for the equalizing goal.
Kieran Trippier: 6.5/10
Bombed forward with intent and got into dangerous positions but did not always pick the best pass, was strong defensively as he did not let Ferland Mendy create any opportunities from the left side for Madrid.
Marcos Llorente: 8/10
Marcos Llorente has now provided more LaLiga assists this season than any other player in the competition (8).
He did not set up a single goal in 39 games as a Real Madrid player. ? pic.twitter.com/tKRtEIDlYz
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) March 7, 2021
A brilliant run by him set up the opening goal for his team. Troubled the opposition every time he got on the ball. Won possession in key areas and made some wonderful runs with the ball from midfield.
Koke: 7.5/10
Dominated the star-studded Los Blancos midfield with his superior passing, released Atletico attackers with his long through-balls time after time. Timed his tackles to perfection to win possession back in midfield and kept his team ticking.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco: 6.5/10
Hugged the touchline early on and struggled to create anything worthwhile for his team. Had a great chance at the start of the second half to double the lead, but his shot was saved well by Courtois.
Angel Correa: 6/10
A slow start to the half from the forward but he slowly started showing his quality with his passing but failed to provide a decent final pass for his team. Subbed for Geoffrey Kondogbia towards the end of the game.
Thomas Lemar: 5.5/10
Showed glimpses of his talent but nothing that troubled Real’s defenders, as his final ball was poor. Subbed for Saul Niguez in the 57th minute.
Luis Suarez: 8/10
Luis Suárez has now scored as many career goals against Real Madrid (12) as he has against Norwich.
Find another stat with those two teams in it. ? pic.twitter.com/CvuQse8KMo
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) March 7, 2021
Big game player produces a big moment once again to score the opening goal, showing great off-the-ball movement and excellent finishing ability. Almost doubled the lead with a cut back from Carrasco but his shot was held by Courtois. Showed his hunger in winning possession even towards the end of the game.
Substitutes
Saul Niguez: 5.5/10
Came on for Lemar in the 57th minute, struggled to influence the game from the left side of midfield. Poor outing for the Spaniard.
Joao Felix: 5/10
Came on for Carrasco in the 64th minute, but barely impacted the game at all.
Geoffrey Kondogbia: N/A
Subbed in for Angel Correa towards the end of the game.
Real Madrid
Thibaut Courtois: 8.5/10
Another great save from @thibautcourtois to deny Suarez! ?#AtletiRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/yOqXoyKrJy
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) March 7, 2021
Could have done very little about the finish by Suarez for the opening goal but made some brilliant saves against the Uruguayan as well as Carrasco to keep Los Blancos in the game. Top class display by the Belgian.
Lucas Vazquez: 5.5/10
Dealt with Carrasco’s threat really well, as the Belgian forward received very little joy from his side in the opening half. Struggled against the Belgian in the second half as Carrasco got the better of Vazquez on more than one occasion. Offered very little in attack.
Raphael Varane: 6/10
Was slow to deal with Suarez’s movement for the opening goal, struggled against Atletico’s pace and movement in his half and was lucky not to concede a second goal in the latter half.
Nacho Fernandez: 5/10
Was the weakest member of Real’s backline, failed to close any of the Los Colchoneros attackers down and was beaten for pace by Suarez throughout the game.
Ferland Mendy: 5.5/10
Very poor in his tackling and reading of the game as he struggled to deal with Atletico’s attacking threat from his side, did not provide any quality in his deliveries on the left flank.
Toni Kroos: 6/10
Struggled to set the tempo for Madrid in the opening half as Atletico midfielders did not allow him any time on the ball, his influence on the game improved in the second half.
Casemiro: 6.5/10
Was sluggish early on as Atletico dominated possession, had a half-chance with a long-range effort in the first 45 minutes but his shot was saved by Oblak. Created the assist for the equalizing goal.
Luka Modric: 6/10
Not at his best today as he struggled to get his passing going in the opening minutes. His passing improved post the break after the introduction of Federico Valverde, as the Croatian had played some important passes to create chances for his team in the second half.
Rodrygo: 4.5/10
Offered absolutely nothing from the right-hand side in the first 45 minutes. Subbed off for Vinicius Junior in the 60th minute.
Karim Benzema: 7.5/10
Was isolated and received very less service from his wide players in the first half. However, had the best chance of the game in the 79th minute from Vinicius Junior’s pass but his shots were saved twice by Oblak. Scored the eventual equalizing goal from Casemiro’s cutback to win a point for his team.
Marco Asensio: 6.5 /10
Looked lively on the left-hand side for Madrid as most of their attacks were initiated from his flank. Subbed for Federico Valverde in the 60th minute.
Substitutes
Federico Valverde: 7.5/10
Changed the game after coming on for Asensio in the 60th minute, as he provided Los Blancos with greater control in midfield, a brilliant substitution by Zidane.
Vinicius Junior: 7/10
Replaced ineffective Rodrygo in the 60th minute. Added pace and tenacity to Real’s attack after coming on, almost set up Benzema in the 79th minute with a well-placed pass.
