There are plenty of significant derby games in football (soccer).  Manchester and Liverpool stand out as having some of the best battles ever.  Barcelona has them, Sevilla does as well and Madrid boasts several (with Getafe and Rayo Vallecano now in the top tier), but the principal Derbi Madrileño is the match between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.  The one team is full of superstars.  The other struggles to retain its stars.  One is at the top of La Liga and the other is struggling to stay in the top half.  Although Real Madrid has won a majority of their meetings (50 out of 74) and hasn’t lost to Atlético at home since the 1999/2000 season, as everyone knows, a derby means more is on the line and even a last place team has the potential to defeat one of the best.

The desire to win, especially for Atlético, was evident to start the game.  It was clear was going to play hard football and hard fouling football, making it difficult for Real to have uninterrupted possession with the ball.  Attack seemed to be the word of the day for Atlético.  If Real had possession, they attacked to get it back.  If Atlético had possession, they attacked Real’s defense to try and score goals.  The number of fouls made by Atlético was significant, even in the first few minutes.  Some were called, some weren’t.  Their plan was working as frustration grew on Real’s side and chances grew on Atlético’s side.  A goal for Atlético in the 14^th minute signaled that this was gearing up to be a true Derbi Madrileño.  There were calls for off-sides by Real’s defense, but it was simply a great pass and goal by Atlético.

After the goal, tempers started to flare, more fouls were committed by Atlético and Real was looking decidedly off their game.  And then in the 21^st minute it all went horribly wrong for Atlético.  Cristiano Ronaldo slotted a great pass to Ángel Di Maria who laid it off to Karim Benzema.  It was a goal for sure…only Atlético’s keeper, Nicolas Courtois, stuck his arm out and tripped up Benzema.  The referee never hesitated – straight red.  Atlético would have to play 70 minutes against their crosstown rivals with only 10 men.

Atlético continued with their initial game plan and did their best to frustrate Real.  In the first half, they were called for 14 fouls and given 4 yellow cards (along with the red to Courtois).  They did not, however, give up another goal to Real so the plan seemed to be working.  But could they hold on for the entire second half?  Unfortunately for Atlético, the answer to that question would be no. Di Maria gave Real the lead in the 48^th minute and they never looked back.  At the 60^th minute, Mourinho did surprise a few people, however, adding a 3^rd forward, Gonzalo Higuain, taking off goal scorer, Di Maria. . It almost seemed unfair.  At the time of Higuain’s entrance, Ronaldo, Higuain and Benzema had scored a combined 33 goals in La Liga this season.  It would only take 4 minutes for Higuain to add to that tally. 

Atlético would continue their fouling ways throughout the game and I have to imagine that several of Real’s players had bruises on Sunday.  One of the final fouls would again be in the box and allow Ronaldo to take a penalty kick to put him in the lead in the race for the Pichichi.  He is now at 16, Lionel Messi at 15. 

When the game ended, Atlético would commit a total of 25 fouls, receive 5 yellow cards and 2 red cards.  They would also lose to their local rivals 4-1 and drop to 11^th place in La Liga.  For Real, bruises aside, they could smile at the end of the day.  A 1-0 loss by Barcelona to another Madrid squad, Getafe, puts Los Blancos a full 6 points ahead of Barcelona in La Liga.  And second place Barcelona is now looking over their shoulders with Valencia only one point behind and Levante only 2 points behind, with El Clásico, as of this writing, looming at 13 days and counting…

A.J. Nelson can be found on Twitter @FootieObsessed