Defeat That Spurred Atletico Madrid

MADRID, WEDNESDAY — The first Madrid derby in the round of 16 of the 2024-2025 Champions League, Wednesday (5/3/2025) WIB, at Bernabeu Stadium was won by Real Madrid 2-1. Despite the loss, Atletico Madrid returned home with high confidence for a rematch in the second game.

Three brilliant individual actions from three different players made the difference in the first Madrid derby in the Champions League since 2017. Rodrygo Goes (4’), Julian Alvarez (32’), and Brahim Diaz (55’) registered their names on the scoreboard from situations with very low goal probabilities.

Rodrygo put Los Blancos ahead early on with a shot from inside the box that only recorded 0.16 expected goals (xG). With Atletico's defenders guarding him, Rodrygo's chances of scoring were actually only 16 percent. However, he was still able to beat the visiting goalkeeper, Jan Oblak.

In the second half, it was Diaz's turn to deliver a sensational moment. He scored a goal while being surrounded by three Atletico players and with very limited shooting space. Diaz managed to score despite the probability of that opportunity resulting in a goal being only 10 percent.

However, a more impressive action should be attributed to Alvarez's goal. The Argentine player managed to silence the Bernabeu crowd by scoring from an unexpected position on the far right outside the Real penalty box.

The possibility of Alvarez defeating Real's goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, with that shot was only three percent or 0.03 xG. It was the only clear chance Atletico managed to create during the first 90 minutes of the Champions League round of 16 duel. Alvarez has consistently scored in two Madrid derbies at Bernabeu.

The miraculous goal by Alvarez was able to boost Atletico's confidence to host Real at home next week. The decisive match at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium will be another moment of reckoning for Atletico's squad to break the curse against Real in the Champions League.

Atletico has never lost in their last three home games against Real. One match ended in a draw, while the other two encounters concluded with victories by a two-goal margin. That two-goal advantage is once again needed by "Los Rojiblancos" to eliminate Real, the reigning Champions League titleholder this season.

That belief was also reflected on the faces of Atletico players after the French referee, Clement Turin, blew the final whistle. Diego Simeone's team was satisfied with their performance, then learned a valuable lesson from conceding two goals from Real which took advantage of their super small mistakes.

"They scored at the right moment when we were controlling the game. We knew the second leg wouldn't be easy, but we were only one goal down and had 90 minutes left in front of our home fans," Alvarez told Movistar.

Atletico center-back Clement Lenglet stated that Atletico was able to suppress the majority of Real's attacking situations. Apart from two goals from Los Blancos' wingers, Atletico was able to suppress Real's two center-forwards, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. In fact, Real failed to produce a single fast-break situation, aka a dangerous counter-attack.

"We found a solution to reduce the power of Real Madrid. It's a disappointing result, but there is still the second game for us to present something different," Lenglet said as reported by UEFA's website.

Atletico were actually able to produce a better percentage of shots from inside the penalty box than Real. Five of Los Rojiblancos' six shots were executed from Real's final 16-meter zone.

That equates to 83 percent of the visitors' shots coming from inside the box. Atletico's only shot outside the box came from midfielder Paulo Barrios in the 27th minute.

Real, meanwhile, only managed 57 percent of their shots from inside the box. Atletico's tight defense meant that six of Los Blancos' 13 shots came from outside the box.

In addition, Real's very effective counter-attack advantage was not visible. Mbappe and his friends were only able to produce one shot from their typical counter-attack situation. It was created in the 90+1 minute through Vinicius' shot which Oblak was able to anticipate.

Simeone believes Atletico should have done better in anticipating Real's two chances that resulted in goals. He also believes Los Rojiblancos should have done better in taking advantage of their chances when they were more dominant before the break.

"We finished the game with a positive feeling. We have to continue playing with this good rhythm in the second match which will also be tough and difficult. The difference is, we will have the support of the fans who are always able to push us," said Simeone as reported by Marca.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was not upset that Los Blancos were only able to take a one-goal lead into the second game at Atletico's home. According to him, the Real squad had played well and the players individually performed exceptionally, especially the difference made by Rodrygo and Diaz.

"It's always difficult to break down Atletico, who are one of the best teams in Europe. We were able to get a little bit of an advantage going into the second game. That was our aim from the first game," Ancelotti was quoted as saying on the UEFA website.

In addition to the temporary aggregate score superiority, Real will travel to Atletico's home with a better squad condition. Because, Jude Bellingham is able to play after serving a yellow card accumulation suspension in the first game.