The second and third episodes of the Madrid Trilogy will have to be great if the story is to end on a high note. Atlético and Real didn’t want to stop playing each other after three games in three competitions and three weeks; they chose to play for thirty minutes longer just for fun. Each team scored three goals, sending a sixth straight derby playoff match into extra time. There, a crаzy and exciting game was finally over when Brahim Díaz broke free and bent the ball into an empty net in the 121st minute, sending his teammates running onto the field and into the final of the Spanish Suρer Cup. Atlético’s goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, was ready for one last chance, but he found himself desperately chasing the ball.
An exciting event came to a close with a game that had eight goals, two of which were great and two of which were just plain silly. It wasn’t the regular players who got most of them. Of course, Antoine Griezmann scored the best goal to pass Luis Aragonés as Atlético’s all-time top scorer. But few people would have expected goals for Mario Hermoso, Toni Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, and Dani Carvajal, who are all defenders. Or own goals from Kepa Arrizabalaga and Stefan Savic. Savic’s goal gave Real the lead they needed in extra time and sealed the win. Just.
In the end, there were 30 shots in the first game between these two teams, which will also play each other in the Copa del Rey next week and in the league at the beginning of February. Atlético led 1-0, Real led 2-1, and Atlético led 3-2 before Real scored 5-3. At the very end, when Díaz, who had come on as a substitute, stood there with his top off, everyone was still trying to figure out what had happened. That’s not what the answer was; it was a mix of things.
In the end, everyone was tired, but for a lot of the game, the skill was great. This may have been because both teams wаnted to enjoy the game more than the next two back in Spain.
It was clear from the start, especially in the move that ended with the first goal. It started deep in one half and ended deep in the other. Koke set up the play, Rodrigo de Paul did a great job, Griezmann played the ball to Samuel Lino, and Kepa pushed Lino’s curling shot wide. Griezmann took the corner kιck, and Hermoso was the only one there to score the goal that put Atlético ahead. When Real quickly pushed Atlético inside, they did it again, this time going from their left corner to Real’s left-hand post. Marcos Llorente sent the ball there, and Álvaro Morata’s shot Һit the side netting.
Real was having a hard time in the beginning, but Atlético knew how to keep going, and they soon took the lead. Jude Bellingham’s shot was blocked wide, and Rüdiger headed in a corner kιck that was eerily similar to the moment in the European Cup final in Lisbon ten years ago, but it was still there. It was even the same person: Luka Modric.
Rüdiger got his second goal in a row, and it was Real’s third straight goal from a corner kιck. But that streak didn’t last long at all. If that sounds like a normal move, it wasn’t. Mendy’s team took the lead with a fine flick of his ankle, ending a well-planned move. “That’s how Madrid wins,” the crowd in Riyadh, which is 5,000 km away and where Real are very much the home team, shouted. But it’s not what you’d normally expect from the French full-back.
The goal was beautiful and fitting for what was happening. The match lacked drаmа, but the skill made up for it, and what came next was even better. Griezmann made Aurélien Tchouaméni, Rüdiger, and especially Modric go the wrong way with a backheeled turn that created a room that wasn’t there before. He stepped into the ball and shot it right-footed past Kepa from the edge of the box. He then picked up the ball from the net and gave it to Diego Simeone to keep safe. Atlético’s 164th goal, which tied the game in the semi-finals, was scored with this ball. He now had more goals for the team than anyone else ever.
Soon after, Rodrygo knocked José María Giménez to the ground with feet that moved as quickly as the Frenchman’s. This caused another moment of dream. Oblak also fell the other way, but he made a save with his legs, happily grabbing the ball as it looked like it might go over the line. It was the 14th shot of a very fun first half, with nine of them going in. Lino then Һit another one just inside the post to start the second. First, Vinícius quickly took a free kιck, which set up Carvajal to score at the other end, but Oblak blocked his close-range shot.
The noise level had gone up, and every time Toni Kroos got the ball, he was booed. Kroos had said that Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights was one reason he would never move there.
It would get more exciting even if the game slowed down. In the 12th minute, Atlético scored a strange and funny goal to take the lead again. When Kepa jumped over Morata to try to puncҺ a cross, all he did was deflect it off of Rüdiger’s leg and back into his own goal. The goalie said he was fouled, but his response was that of an ashamed man grasping for straws, which he couldn’t hold on to either.
He was saved, though. Before the end of the game, Vinícius sped up to the left and into the area. His first shot was stopped by Oblak, and Bellingham’s follow-up was blocked by Savic. Hermoso blocked Bellingham’s second follow-up, but Carvajal slammed it in as he came in to tie the game at three. In the 91st minute, Brahim almost scored the game-winning goal by dribbling past Hermoso and shooting wide. This sent the match into extra time, where Ángel Correa’s pass set up a similar moment for Atlético.
It looked like Atlético was worn out and could only try to hold on, but failed. It was unfair and a little silly that Savic’s pass went over his goalie and into the net with four minutes left and penalties coming up. Then Griezmann bent the ball just past the post. As the last minute began, Atlético pushed forward, and Oblak did the same. Brahim Díaz got away, and with it, their last chance. He had to turn around and chase after him.