Atleti level late as Real drop points in LaLiga race
Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente scored in stoppage time to cancel out Brahim Diaz‘s first-half opener for leaders Real Madrid as they drew 1-1 in LaLiga at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Real are on 58 points at the summit, two ahead of Girona, who they host on Saturday. Atletico remain fourth with 48 points, two behind third-placed Barcelona.
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“It was a good game from our side, we controlled the game but we were unlucky to concede a goal in the last minute,” Real manager Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
“We did well, we deserved to win but we have nothing to complain about. We are leaders and we have another chance to take a big step forward next Saturday.
“The team has to be calm, a good point has come out of it.”
Real were forced to navigate the match without Vinicius Junior, who felt some discomfort in his back during warm-ups, with Diaz starting in his place.
“Vinicius tried [to play],” Ancelotti said. “He had a cervical problem, it bothered him, he tried to warm up but wasn’t comfortable. The two options were Joselu and Brahim. Brahim allowed us not to change the defensive system.”
The hosts opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Diaz seized on a loose ball after some sloppy Atletico defending inside the box to slot home from close range and score his fourth league goal this season.
Atletico thought they had equalised in the opening minutes of the second half, but VAR intervened to rule out Stefan Savic‘s towering header for offside.
Diego Simeone’s side finally scored in the final seconds of the game when midfielder Llorente headed past Real keeper Andriy Lunin from a Memphis Depay cross.
“The goal tastes very good, we worked hard during the game, we got a point and we are happy with the team’s work,” Llorente told Movistar. “It doesn’t taste like a win the way the game was going, but we got a valuable point.”
Atletico next host Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup semifinals on Wednesday.
