Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme’s extra-time strikes on Thursday earned Atletico Madrid a 4-2 win over city rivals Real Madrid and passage to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Earlier, Barcelona secured an unconvincing 3-1 win at third-tier Unionistas de Salamanca to scrape through their round-of-16 tie.
Atletico edged an entertaining battle at the Metropolitano, the second of three Madrid derbies in under a month, to inflict Los Blancos’ second defeat of the season in all competitions.
Photo: Reuters
Real Madrid twice pegged back Atletico to take the game to extra-time, with Jan Oblak’s own-goal canceling out Samuel Lino’s opener and Joselu netting late on after Alvaro Morata had put the hosts in front again.
In extra-time Griezmann broke down the right and finished with aplomb and Riquelme struck at the death to settle the game and avenge Atletico’s 5-3 defeat by Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final last week.
The loss snapped Real Madrid’s 21-match unbeaten run.
“I don’t think [Atletico have the measure of us], because we beat them a few days ago,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters. “We played a complete game, even, hard-fought, against strong rivals.”
Once again, the match flowed end to end. Jude Bellingham hit the crossbar for Real Madrid before Atletico took the lead when Lino finished from close range.
However, the Supercopa winners leveled before halftime when Luka Modric’s crossed free-kick drew Oblak out of his goal. The Slovenian, leaping to reach the ball, but unable to grab it, ended up getting the final touch as it span into his own net.
Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior celebrated the equalizer more fiercely than anyone, with no love lost between the Brazilian and Atletico’s supporters.
The home fans were jubilant early in the second half when Morata sent Atletico back ahead, after Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin failed to gather the ball and it fell invitingly into the striker’s path.
Real Madrid hit the woodwork a second time through Rodrygo before Joselu equalized with 10 minutes to go.
After Vinicius slipped in Bellingham, the England international cleverly sliced the ball across for the target man to nod home and send the match to extra-time.
Griezmann cut through a tense first additional period with a brilliant solo run down the right wing, escaping Vinicius and finishing lethally across Lunin into the top corner to send Atletico ahead.
Substitute Dani Ceballos leveled for Madrid in the 111th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside, with Riquelme tucking home to settle the match.
“We had the patience to wait for our moment, Griezmann scored maybe his best goal and [Riquelme] finished well on the counter,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
Victory meant a lot to Atletico, off the pace in La Liga and hurt by the prior Madrid defeat, and they celebrated wildly with their supporters.
“The games lately have been really nice for fans, at high speed, decided in extra-time, and today it was our turn to win it,” Atletico skipper Koke told TVE.
In the other match, after Alvaro Gomez brilliantly volleyed Unionistas in front, Spanish champions Barcelona clawed their way back to triumph with goals from Ferran Torres, Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde.
After their thrashing by Real Madrid in the Supercopa final, the bare minimum they needed was to progress as doubts swirl around the club and coach Xavi Hernandez.
“We played well in parts, but in others we have to play better, sometimes I despair because we don’t know what we need to,” Xavi told reporters. “When I say we’re in construction, it’s that, that we have to do what we need every single time.”
The hosts, at their packed 6,000-capacity Estadio Municipal Reina Sofia, were fired up and dreaming of an upset after already knocking out Villarreal.
Unionistas struck first to shock Barca with the unmarked Gomez volleying home after 31 minutes.
Barca equalized before halftime when Torres broke free on the counter, running through one-on-one from the halfway line and kept his cool to finish well.
Xavi cut a frustrated figure until Kounde put Barca ahead with a bolt from the blue in the 69th minute, after being given too much time.
Balde made amends for his poor marking for the Unionistas goal by netting Barcelona’s third, a superb solo strike.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
RSS