Atletico cop a very Real slap in face
KARIM BENZEMA salvaged a draw with two minutes remaining of the Madrid derby to leave Atletico frustrated.
Diego Simeone’s side looked set to end Real’s hopes of the La Liga title until Benzema struck in the closing stages.
The 1-1 draw leaves Spain’s three-team race for the title still wide open with Atletico three points clear of Barcelona while Real are a further two points back in third.
Atletico’s opener came in 15 minutes and it was a sweeping move that started with Kieran Trippier and ended with Luis Suarez.
The England right-back found Marcos Llorente and as Nacho dived in he got to the ball first and sprinted clear. Suarez timed his run behind Raphael Varane perfectly and with the outside of his right boot bent his shot past Thibaut Courtois into the net.
With 10 minutes left Real Madrid found another gear from somewhere and Jan Oblak had to save three times inside two minutes.
First came a brilliant double save from Benzema then he kept out a freekick from the striker.
Real levelled as Benzema swapped passes with Casemiro inside the area and fired home.
Boss Zinedine Zidane said: “The first half was theirs and the second was ours. In the end, the good and most important thing is to have a second half like we did.
“We know there’s a long way to go and we’re going to fight until the end.”
Atletico skipper Koke admitted they only had themselves to blame for letting two points slip.
He said: “We were the better team but Real Madrid can always score from any chance.”
In Italy, goals in either half from Rade Krunic and Diogo Dalot gave AC Milan a much-needed 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona.
Milan remain in second place in Serie A, three points behind city rivals Inter who play fifth-placed Atalanta tonight.
Juventus remain third, four points behind Milan, after defeating Lazio 3-1 on Saturday.
Joaquin Correa gave Lazio a 14th-minute lead in Turin but Juve responded with Adrien Rabot’s leveller before the break and a second-half Alvaro Morata double, the second from the spot, clinched it.
In Germany, Bayern Munich won a Der Klassiker thriller on Saturday to boost their push for a ninth straight Bundesliga title.
Bayern had been replaced at the top of the table by RB Leipzig before kick-off after Julian Nagelsmann’s side defeated Freiburg 3-0 with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emile Forsberg.
It looked grim for Bayern when Erling Haaland struck twice in the first minutes for Borussia Dortmund but two Robert Lewandowski goals before the break, the second a penalty, hauled them level.
Leon Goretzka drilled home an 87th-minute goal for 3-2 and Lewandowski sealed his hat-trick in stoppage time.