A goalless derby at the Wanda Metropolitano

A goalless draw, the first in history at the Wanda Metropolitano, confirmed the doubts of Atletico and Real Madrid, both far from their best form this season, further away from the top of the table, already ten points behind Barcelona, and frustrated in a match in which both come out as losers.

The point is worth almost nothing for their aspirations in the league, the game doesn't serve much to recover lost sensations, except for individual cases, because they still long for Griezmann, Cristiano or Benzema, and because winning a derby in recent times requires much more than what the red and white teams demonstrated this Saturday.

The match was much more tense than precise, much more vibrant than brilliant, much more about fighting than combination, with all the pressure that Barcelona had generated hours before, with all the responsibility of looking at an eleven-point gap before the start of the duel at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, and with all the weight of a derby.

The tactics were carefully measured, but even today there was room for error, a few of them, like the first chance: a gift from Raphael Varane to Correa that the Argentine wasted in front of Kiko Casilla; a defensive concession from Real Madrid and an offensive concession from Atletico in the 3rd minute, which can mean a lot in a match like this.

Atletico didn't score then, insecure this season in the final meters, where matches are won, but also with evident difficulties in creating chances like they have never been seen before in the Simeone era, who populated his midfield with five men, with Thomas playing as an attacking midfielder during the week and dropping back to his usual position during the match.

An effective plan against Real Madrid, containing them, cutting off their midfield transitions, with no paths to overwhelm and no space ahead to run during half an hour of possessions without depth from the white team, verticality embroiled in the red and white block with no more opportunities. No final destination.

Every cross into the Real Madrid area, with Isco positioned towards the left flank to measure his dribbles against Juanfran, was repelled by the omnipresent Stefan Savic; every attacking attempt from Atletico was lost in a dribble, in an uncontrolled impulse or in so many meters to cover, especially from the 30th minute onwards.

By then, the match had already changed. Atletico was already feeling more out of control. And Madrid was already perceiving, and finding, more spaces, like in a wall pass between Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos finished wide by the German, in a series of crosses from the left flank by Isco or Marcelo, or in a header from Sergio Ramos that ended with a blow and blood on the nose. He held on until halftime. Nacho replaced him.

The Atletico team was trapped by tactics, the constant overflowing of Real Madrid was missing, reliant on a stroke of genius from Isco. The first half ended with the feeling that both sides have much more, also with the feeling that victory in a derby demands more, but at the same time, that the white team was playing more like their proposal than the red and white team.

Atletico needed an impulse. Simeone looked for that in Carrasco, from the bench to the field in place of Thomas. It had some effect on the red and white team, who took a step forward, and by extension, on Real Madrid, who suddenly, without their opponent doing anything very different than before, disappeared from the opposition's field, with no news of Benzema and Cristiano. Neither on the other side of Griezmann, who was booed when he was substituted by Torres with fifteen minutes to go.

The Madrid-born forward and Gameiro, replacing Correa, were Simeone's final move. The first connection between the two, finished by the French forward, was cleared off the goal line by Varane, just in time to stop the lob that had beaten Kiko Casilla. On the other side, Oblak repelled a free kick from Cristiano and a shot from Toni Kroos destined for the goalless draw.