adminMADRID. — Real Madrid failed to capitalise on Barcelona’s surprise 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday as they were thwarted by two outstanding saves by Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak in an entertaining 0-0 derby draw in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday.
Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also made two exceptional saves to frustrate Atletico strikers Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa in the first half while Gareth Bale was forced off at half-time with a suspected groin problem.
Bale had come close to scoring for Real, who improved after the interval and almost snatched a winner in stoppage time when captain Sergio Ramos headed narrowly wide from a corner.
Slovenian international Oblak helped Atletico withstand a flurry of Real attacks, denying Marco Asensio at point-blank range and later turning away a stinging shot from Dani Carvajal from inside the area.
Real have now failed to beat Atletico at home in the league in their last six attempts, with their last victory coming in December 2012 when Jose Mourinho was in charge.
“I’m not satisfied with the result because we always want to win and we deserved to win,” said Real boss Julen Lopetegui.
“The team kept growing as the game went on, we were the far better team and had clear chances, but football games are decided by goals, not by whether you deserved to win.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone added: “Watching how we played in the first half I leave with a bitter taste at not winning, but then looking at the second half I think a draw is fair.”
Real are joint-top of the standings, locked on 14 points with Barcelona, who have a slightly superior goal difference despite stumbling to a draw with Bilbao after starting the game with talisman Lionel Messi on the bench. — AFP
Online Reporter