Atletico Madrid will take a healthy advantage into the second leg of their last-16 Copa del Rey clash with Real Madrid next week after recording a 2-0 win at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.
Raul Garcia opened the scoring after 58 minutes from the penalty spot, before Jose Gimenez scored a second 15 minutes from time.
The second leg will take place at the Bernabeu next Thursday.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Spanish rivals.
Match statistics
ATLETICO
Shots: 9
On target: 2
Possession: 28%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 23
REAL MADRID
Shots: 10
On target: 3
Possession: 72%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 12
Was the result fair?
Quite incredibly, Atletico had just 28% possession at the Calderon, but there is little doubting that they deserved the win. In truth, there was not much to choose between the two teams in the first period and the best chance fell to the visitors. However, Sergio Ramos brought a fine save from Jan Oblak in what was a strong start from Los Blancos.
Atletico improved in the second period, however, and while their penalty was a shade fortunate, they looked the more threatening as the match gathered pace. Real Madrid did not really wake up until Atletico scored their second, but by then, the damage had already been done. Cristiano Ronaldo was thrown on just past the hour, but even the Portuguese found it difficult against a well-drilled and impressive Atletico.
Atletico's performance
Atletico boss Diego Simeone made a number of changes to his XI, with the likes of Saul Niguez, Jesus Gamez and Fernando Torres among those that started. Teenage centre-back Gimenez retained his spot in the side and was excellent alongside Diego Godin, while 18-year-old centre-back Lucas Hernandez started at left-back, but produced a mature display. Much of the pre-match talk was about Torres and while the Spaniard did not overly impress, his effort and work-rate pleased the home supporters.
Neither side created too much of note in the first period, but Atletico took the lead just before the hour when Garcia slotted a penalty into the bottom corner. It was a debatable decision, however, with Ramos making little contact on Garcia. Another set-piece goal followed, with Gimenez converting a Gabi corner to double the home side's lead. The Spanish champions only had two attempts on target at the Calderon, but it was another defensive masterclass from a side that is certainly here to stay.
Real Madrid's performance
As mentioned, Ronaldo was named on the bench, but Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti still selected a strong XI, with the likes of Ramos, Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema all in the side. Ancelotti would have been looking for a response following the 2-1 defeat at Valencia on Saturday, but Real Madrid were never really at it. Granted, they came close to taking the lead through Ramos inside two minutes, but the centre-back was denied by Oblak. As touched upon, they dominated the possession - of which they had 72% - but in truth, they did not do an awful lot with it for long spells of the match.
There is no question that the away side improved when Ronaldo and Jese Rodriguez entered in the second period, but there was a real lack of bite in the final third. Atletico stopper Oblak made some decent saves, but most of his work was routine against a side that are comfortably the top scorers in Spain this season. Defensively, they were pretty solid against a difficult Atletico attack, but for the first time in some while, they struggled down the other end. That said, credit must again be given to Atletico, who have beaten Real Madrid three times in their four meetings this season.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jose Gimenez: There is a reason why Atletico are said to be prepared to sell Miranda this winter and that reason is Gimenez. The centre-back is just 19, but has been in exceptional form this season. Against Real Madrid, the defender did not put a foot wrong as he made life difficult for the away side's attack, while he scored Atletico's second with an excellent header. The teenager is thriving alongside Uruguay teammate Godin at the heart of the defence.
Biggest gaffe
Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa was lucky not to be sent off in the latter stages following a horrendous challenge on Atletico skipper Gabi. The ball had already gone in the Real Madrid half when Arbeloa went in late on his fellow Spaniard, but the referee had his back turned. It was a really poor moment from the right-back, who has previous in this sort of situation.
Referee performance
As expected, it was a fairly busy evening for referee Clos Gomez. With help from his linesman, the official rightly disallowed a Bale header in the first period, but Real Madrid were incensed by Gomez's decision to award a second-half penalty. Ramos was certainly grappling with Garcia, but the former went down very easily. As touched upon, Arbeloa was lucky to escape a card for his shocking challenge on Gabi, but the referee did issue 10 bookings during what was a feisty Madrid derby once again.
What next?
Atletico: Atletico have the small matter of a date with Barcelona at Camp Nou in the league on Sunday evening. Both sides are level on points at this stage of the campaign.
Real Madrid: Los Blancos, who have now lost their last two in all competitions, will attempt to return to winning ways in La Liga when they host Espanyol on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Law
