Atletico Madrid holds off Real Madrid in Champions League quarterfinal first leg
Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have met seven times already this season. But after Real beat its crosstown rival 4-1 in extra time in last year's UEFA Champions League final, it has yet to beat its less glamorous foe.
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The first six times they faced off this season, Atletico won four times. Two games ended in a tie. On Tuesday, in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal bout at Atletico's Vicente Calderon, they tied for a third time.
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Real was dominant for the bulk of a feisty affair, finding cracks and seams all over Atletico's much-ballyhooed defense early on. But the game ended 0-0 regardless, meaning next week's return fixture at Real's Santiago Bernabeu will be winner-takes-all.
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The defending champions – and record 10-time winners – forged real chances in the opening half, forcing uncommon mistakes from their opponents. A Diego Godin miscue in just the third minute put Gareth Bale through on goal, but goalkeeper Jan Oblak got big in their one-on-one showdown and denied the Welshman.
For much of the game, Atletico didn't do a whole lot more than absorb pressure in hopes of breaking out every now and again. But when it did have chances to gallop upfield, a bad pass invariably doomed its attacking campaign.
After half an hour, Bale had another look, ripping the ball at Oblak from distance. But the Slovenian goalkeeper read the knuckling shot well and parried it on the bounce. Then a short while later, Oblak saw through the jumble of legs and scrambled to his far post in time to push away James Rodriguez's unconventional outside-foot shot from his off-leg.
As a result, Real had nothing to show for its first-half dominance going into halftime.
After the intermission, Atletico got more involved. It produced few real chances, but the increased pressure and possession served to diffuse the danger emanating from the opponent. That resulted in a half hour of stalemate until Atletico finally began playing like the home team and chased a late goal.
With both teams going at it full bore, the game quickly grew testy and physical. Atletico striker Mario Mandzukic, who was otherwise ineffectual, was battered bloody by Sergio Ramos and then punched in the chest by Dani Carvajal, neither of whom was called to account for his actions by the referee. In that sense, Real learned to match Atletico's intensity, lest they be defeated by it again. It made for a lot of ugliness.
If you're a fan of finicky football played in tiny spaces, of tactics and games of chess between the opposing lines, you might have enjoyed this game. If you were looking for a spectacle, or rooting for either team, not so much.
But then that probably only means that the return leg will be doubly captivating.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
