For the second consecutive season Atlético Madrid departed the Santiago Bernabéu with all three points as Los Colchoneros collected a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Saturday night.
Iker Casillas disappointed with Real Madrid loss to Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu
A first half goal from Tiago and a second half strike from substitute Arda Turan sandwiched a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty as Los Blancos fell for the second match in a row. With the loss, Real have failed to beat their city rivals in three contests on the new season.
Dani Carvajal's injury forced Real head coach Carlo Ancelotti to replace the right back with Álvaro Arbeloa while Fabio Coentrão lined up as the other fullback. Sergio Ramos and Pepe took their places at center back in front of goalkeeper Iker Casillas. In the middle it was the trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and James while in attack the BBC made a return in the form of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Ronaldo.
Atlético boss Diego Simeone handed Mexican Raúl Jiménez his first start of the season as the former Club América man paired with striker Mario Mandzukic while Koke and Raúl García manned the attacking wings. Tiago and Gabi slotted into the defensive midfield while Guilherme Siqueira, Diego Godín, João Miranda and Juanfran made up the back line in front of goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Moyá.
Set pieces have been an ongoing issue for Real Madrid in recent seasons and it would haunt Ancelotti's men just shy of the 10 minute mark when Tiago headed in a corner kick to give Atlético a 1-0 lead. The marking from the Real defense was poor, and it was an easy turn for Tiago who was perfectly placed at the near post and simply redirected the ball from two yards out.
Los Blancos looked to respond and Bale nearly found the equalizer in the 23rd minute when his free kick looked to be curling in, but it took a slight deflection off the top of the Atlético wall and Moyá was able to paw it away. However, three minutes later Ronaldo earned a penalty when Siqueira clumsily took down the Portuguese superstar in the area and it was an easy conversion from the spot from Ronaldo to make it 1-1.
Real only upped the pressure after drawing level and Benzema had a golden opportunity to make it 2-1 in the 34th minute after some fine work from Kroos and Ronaldo, but the Frenchman's touch after a pass across from Ronaldo was gobbled up by Moyá. Halftime mercifully came for Los Colchoneros who were clearly on their heels to end the first half and offered very little in attack.
The break was just the remedy for Atlético as Simeone's men reasserted their control on the affairs. Substitutes Antoine Griezmann and Turan gave Atlético a new spark and it was the Turkish midfielder who came close to giving the visitors the lead in the 73rd minute, only to see his right-footer curl just wide.
But three minutes later Turan was on target as Juanfran cut a ball across, Raúl García played a genius dummy and Turan swept a shot into the corner netting past Casillas to silence what was an already-quieted Bernabéu crowd. It was a beautifully constructed team goal from Atlético and capped off what was a stellar second half after enduring some difficult moments in the first half.
Real tried to dust off the shock of the Turan goal, and threatened at times in the remaining minutes, but it was never anything serious as the home attack was muted in the second stanza and gives Ancelotti plenty to think about as they begin their Champions League campaign.
MARCA
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