A stunning 4-0 win over bitter rivals and La Liga
pacesetters Real Madrid reignited Atletico Madrid's
title defence in glorious fashion.
Atletico Madrid's La Liga title defence received a
major boost as the champions continued their
recent dominance over bitter rivals Real Madrid
with a spectacular 4-0 win on Saturday.
Diego Simeone's men would have fallen 10 points
behind Real with defeat at the Vicente Calderon,
but the Liga pacesetters were rolled over in
ruthless fashion by a rampant Atletico side.
Victory extends Atletico's unbeaten run against
their neighbours to six games this season, Real
having been out-fought and out-thought as they
failed to display the performance expected of a
side at the top of the table.
Ancelotti, who insisted his men were "not scared"
of Atletico, was able to call upon the services of
Cristiano Ronaldo again following his suspension,
but the visitors looked in trouble from the off
and Tiago opened the scoring with 14 minutes
gone.
Saul, an early substitute for the injured Koke,
doubled their tally with a delightful bicycle kick four
minutes later, leaving Real completely stunned.
The visitors rarely looked capable of mounting a
response and Atletico added further goals
through Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic
to move within four points of Real at the summit.
Atletico began the contest with purpose and looked
particularly threatening down the right flank
through Arda Turan, who caused problems inside
the first 10 minutes.
The hosts were dealt the blow of losing Koke to a
hamstring injury in the 10th minute, but produced
a marvellous response to the setback, taking the
lead four minutes later.
In truth, there was a hint of fortune about the goal,
as Tiago met Mandzukic's well-weighted pass on
the edge of the area and drilled a low effort at Iker
Casillas, who allowed the ball to squirm under him.
There was no doubt over the quality of Atletico's
second, which came in the 18th minute.
Guilherme Siqueira produced a marauding run on
the left wing, riding two challenges on his way, and
then picked out a precise cross for Saul, whose
acrobatic overhead kick flew in off the post.
Real picked things up after the half-hour mark, but
Atletico continued to look lethal in attack and
should have been awarded a penalty in the 34th
minute when Sami Khedira blocked Diego Godin's
goal-bound effort with his arm.
Atletico started the second half strongly and
Griezmann tested Casillas with a stinging drive
from the edge of the area, before sending a
bicycle kick just over the crossbar.
The lively France star was not to be denied in the
67th minute, though, as Griezmann latched on to
Saul's header across goal and poked in ahead of
the sluggish Raphael Varane.
Real made a laboured attempt to salvage a
consolation towards the end, but Atletico ultimately
sapped them of their remaining pride as Mandzukic
headed in substitute Fernando Torres' cross for a
fourth, handing Simeone's side and second-placed
Barcelona – who face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday –
a huge boost in the title race.
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