- Real Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico on Saturday night
- Gareth Bale was taken off at half-time over a suspected injury in his right groin
- Both teams missed a glorious opportunity to close the gap with La Liga leaders Barcelona
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid locked horns in a hot derby, with goals the only thing missing to really bring life to the encounter on Saturday, September 29.
Los Blancos showed intent and hunger to win of the mark and it was no surprise they would be out to redeem themselves following their 3-0 midweek drubbing by Sevilla on Wednesday.
France international Anotine Griezmann tried his luck with an acrobatic finish but failed to find the back of the net.
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Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio kept rotating on the wings as Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui tried his level best to tactically outclass Diego Simeone.
Bale had another opportunity after Toni Kroos delivered a hot free kick in a few minutes later, but his attempt missed the target.
Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid, Raphael Varane of Real Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on September 29, 2018 in Madrid Spain.
Karim Benzema did not have quite a spectacular game but created some opportunities and even came close to giving Madrid the lead at the half hour mark.
Bale sustained an injury to add on to Lopetegui's troubles and was replaced by Dani Ceballos.
Asensio was a constant threat to goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who had a field-day between the post locking out Real's attack through and through.
The Atleti custodian palmed an attempt from Asensio from just some yards out in the 65th minute that could have given Real the lead.
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Vinicius Junior made his debut became the first millennial player to feature for Real Madrid after finalising a deal worth (£40m) from Brazilian giants Flamengo.
Atletico remain unbeaten in their last six visits to the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga, the first team to reach such a mark since Valencia between 1942 and 1948.
The result leaves Madrid and Barcelona tied at the top while Atletico lie two points back in fourth position.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously had reported that Andre Silva’s brace and Wissam Ben Yedder goal in the first half was all Sevilla needed to thrash Real Madrid 3-0 on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, in a La Liga showdown.
The encounter which took place at the Estadio Ramon saw Real Madrid the only unbeaten team in the Spanish topflight, but all that changed in the 17th minute after Navas broke down the right, before delivering a low cross into Silva’s path to place the ball past Courtois for the opener.
On the 20th minute mark Lukas Modric tried a response for Real Madrid, getting the ball in the middle of the park for a goal opportunity, but Sevilla cleared their lines.
On the 21st Sevilla got their second of the match after a fast counter-attack found Silva free in the box to score from a loose ball off Courtois’s save to convert. Bale tried in vain to pull one back on the 24th minute, but he could only hit the post, with a powerful effort from distance.
Yedder netted the third in the 39th minute to see Sevilla head into the break with a 3-0 advantage.
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Source: Naija.ng
