El Derbi Madrileño: Los Blancos vs. Los Rojiblancos

El Derbi Madrileño – contrasting identities, different fates.  The rivalry between the two Madrid based teams goes much, much deeper than fútbol.  It's political.  In spite of an unbeaten derby streak of 19 games, José Mourinho spoke about the difficulty of the match against los Rojiblancos days before.  He humbly stated, "If you say we an win 1-0 or 2-1, I'd accept right now... so what if they haven't won for 12 years?  They will win, perhaps tomorrow.  If people think we're going to beat them by three or four goals, they're wrong."

But beat them they did.  Los Blancos secured their spot as leaders of the Primera Division with a 4-1 victory over Atlético.  Atlético seemed to a change of fortune when Adrián López scored at the 15' minute mark, drawing first blood with a very difficult shot, Eduardo Salvio at the assist.  However, the dismissal of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois five minutes after turned things around.  Courtois was sent off with a red for bringing Karim Benzema down in the box, leaving los Rojiblancos at a disadvantage of playing a man down.  Referees ruled a penalty in favor of Real Madrid, with Cristiano Ronaldo taking the kick and equalizing the match at the 24' minute mark, with a shot to the bottom left corner.

Atlético's strategy after Courtois being sent off seemed to give the game a stop-start nature.  This was particularly evident with a whopping 20 fouls in the first 45 minutes of play.  However, they could not keep up this strategy in the second half.

At the 48' minute mark, Cristiano Ronaldo crossed the ball into the box, Ángel di María finishing beautifully, giving Real Madrid it's second goal of the evening.  14 minutes later, Real Madrid made its first substitution, bringing Gonzalo Higuain on for Di María.  Not long after coming on the pitch, Higuain scored a third for los Blancos from 12 yards out.

Diego Godín earned Atlético's second red card of the evening on the 82' minute mark for committing a bad foul on Higuain, giving Real Madrid another penalty.  Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty with a shot to the bottom left corner, sealing the match 4-1, giving los Blancos their 13^th straight win this season.  ¡Hala Madrid, mi equipo blanco!

By: Gail Hidalgo