The embarrassment of the lighters derby ended in a strange way at the height of the outcome in the second half. With Le Normand on the grass after receiving a blow to the head when Tchouameni tried to finish a cross. Without time running out. With the referee fed up with a match that had had to be stopped for more than twenty minutes due to objects being thrown from the south end of the Metropolitano into Thibaut Courtois’s area. The public address announcements and the requests from several players and Simeone were of no use. The background continued throwing lighters, and at the end of the match the Atlético players went to celebrate with themselves Correa’s in-extremis tie that leaves them and Madrid one point closer to Barça, which stumbled in Pamplona.
1
Jan Oblak, Reinildo (Javi Galán, min. 74), José Giménez, Nahuel Molina (Koke, min. 45), Robin Le Normand, Conor Gallagher (Ángel Correa, min. 69), Julián Alvarez (Rodrigo Riquelme, min. 74 ), Rodrigo De Paul, Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth (Samuel Lino, min. 55)
1
Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Éder Militão, Luka Modric (Lucas Vázquez, min. 85), Aurélien Tchouaméni, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior (Endrick, min. 87) and Rodrygo (Fran García, min. 89)
Goals
0-1 min. 63: Eder Militao. 1-1 min. 94: Strap
Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer
yellow cards
Modric (min. 39), Le Normand (min. 62), Conor Gallagher (min. 69), Julián Álvarez (min. 74)
red cards
Marcos Llorente (min. 98)
The duel was expected to be volcanic, but more of voice, shouts and whistles at Vinicius; although the stands ended up repeatedly crossing the line of physicality.
Previously, the announced tension had led to a balance of fears and cautions. Madrid stood closer than ever, with the 4-4-2 that the absence of Mbappé due to injury invited. Faced with this compromised stability, Atlético, to whom Simeone had charged all the gunpowder at once, was cautious rather than bold. Real defended well, but the locals didn’t worry them either. The party moved at a pace in both directions. The ball circulated so slowly that it seemed to cradle the stands as the clock ticked. Close to half-time, the Metropolitano even began to forget to whistle for Vinicius. The Brazilian also moved on tiptoe through one of the stadiums that, with Mestalla, are the thorniest for him. He fell into a dispute with Le Normand and after a slight lamentation he went to hug the center back.
Simeone had sent Griezmann, Julián Álvarez and Sorloth out together for the first time. His team has already reached the level of defensive solidity that gives the coach peace of mind, but it is still not taking advantage of the potential it has accumulated. Cholo tried to push his team to that last step against one of the toughest rivals, and the attempt began with a traffic jam that Julián barely altered with a Rüdiger escape that ended against Courtois.
Simeone’s structure managed to lower the pulse of Madrid’s midfield, stuck there except when Bellingham appeared, an escape artist among the red and whites. Real also moved the ball as if it weighed a ton. With Vinicius incognito, the most spicy came with a center from Carvajal and another from Modric. Or with long shots from Valverde and Bellingham.
The sleepy night was only altered by small incidents of lack of control, very slight imbalances between two sides fearful of what they could unleash. The release of the ball by Madrid, which continues without straightening, provided the best options for Atlético, who also salivated after a ball from Griezmann to a race by Sorloth with Rüdiger that ended in nothing.
Simeone began to operate already at half-time. He left Molina in the locker room and introduced Koke. The stirring effect was instantaneous and ephemeral. Atlético forced Madrid to back down. Until Rodrygo took a dangerous shot after an orchestrated corner and Cholo made amends again: before an hour was up, he retired Sorloth, brought in Lino and moved Julián to the center.
The harmony was broken by a lie from Madrid. Modric and Rodrygo stood in front of the ball to take a free kick, with Valverde a few meters further back. The same thing they had done in the first half, and the Uruguayan ended up shooting. This second time they choreographed everything in the same way, but Modric turned to open up Vinicius, who took a cross that ended up falling at the far post to Militão. Madrid’s goal infuriated the stands and the game began to derail.
Courtois brought the referee several lighters thrown from the south end. Busquets Ferrer asked to be warned that if the shooting did not stop he would suspend the derby for a few minutes. Despite Koke’s intervention, the stands did not stop. Courtois continued collecting lighters. The referee stopped the stopwatch and sent the teams to the locker rooms, while Simeone and Giménez went to the back to talk to some hooded leader of the band.
Football returned twenty minutes later and Simeone tried to make up ground with Correa and Riquelme. Atlético was refreshed while Madrid, without a change, deflated. Ancelotti did not intervene until Courtois cleared a good shot from Lino. Lucas Vázquez came on for Modric and shortly after Endrick came on for Vinicius, who after the interruption abandoned his initial zen state and embarked on fiery exchanges with Koke and Llorente.
Atlético’s drive was rewarded in a race that Correa won over Militão. The Argentine dribbled past Courtois, already on the ground, and achieved a tie that Atlético celebrated in the derby of shame.