Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Madrid derby
Atletico Madrid defeated city rivals Real Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano on Sunday, September 20, in a match that also marked the first meeting between coaches Diego Simeone and Jose Mourinho in more than a decade.
Match result
On Sunday, September 20, Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium to win the LaLiga derby. The first half ended goalless and was marked by controversial refereeing decisions. In the second half, in the 53rd minute, referee Miguel Angel Ortiz awarded Atletico a penalty following a VAR review of a foul on Simeone's son, Giuliano, and Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off. Alejandro Grimaldo converted the penalty, and new signing Jonathan David added a second goal in the 59th minute. Late in the match, Antonio Rudiger headed home to make it 2-1, but Real Madrid could not find an equalizer, and Atletico held on for the win.
Coaches reunite after more than a decade
The match also marked the first meeting between Diego Simeone and Jose Mourinho as rival coaches since 2014, when Mourinho's Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League by Simeone's Atletico. Their last Madrid derby against each other came in the 2013 Copa del Rey final, which Atletico won 2-1 after extra time. It was also Mourinho's first visit to the Metropolitano since returning to Real Madrid this summer. As reported by BBC and OneFootball, Simeone said before the match that he had long admired Mourinho, and both coaches expressed mutual respect.
League standings
Before the match, Real Madrid sat second in the table with 15 points from six games, level with Real Betis, while Atletico were fourth with 13 points. Barcelona led the standings with 21 points. Atletico came into the derby on the back of two consecutive wins — 3-0 over Real Sociedad and 4-0 over Osasuna — while Real Madrid had struggled to a 3-2 win over Elche in their previous match. According to BBC, Real Madrid had won only two of their last 11 away matches against Atletico, with their last LaLiga win at the Metropolitano coming four years ago; Atletico had also won last season's corresponding derby 5-2.
Discrepancies over lineups
Sources differ slightly on Atletico's starting lineup: beIN Sports reported before kickoff that either Julian Alvarez or Jonathan David could start up front, while Managing Madrid's published lineup included Ademola Lookman, who is not mentioned in other sources. The match itself confirmed Jonathan David was on the pitch, scoring Atletico's second goal.
