Real Madrid turned in a miserable defensive showing, and lacked cutting edge going forward in a poor 3-1 loss against Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Los Blancos were susceptible on the counter-attack, with usual stalwart David Alaba culpable for three near-identical headers against their cross-city rivals to drop their first La Liga points of the season.
Alvaro Morata bagged the opener inside four minutes, nodding Samuel Lino's angled ball past a frozen Kepa Arrizabalaga. The home side made it two shortly after, Saul linking up with Antoine Griezmann, who glanced a header into the bottom corner. The France star could have added a third, too, but saw his effort well denied by Kepa.
Toni Kroos provided the Real response, pivoting from his left to right foot, before smashing past Jan Oblak from the edge of the box. But Madrid's defending let them down again, as Atletico only needed two minutes of the second half to double their lead, Morata completing his brace with another free header.
Carlo Ancelotti changed things shortly after, introducing fresh legs, and reverting to his preferred 4-4-2 formation to get back into the game. And the visitors created more as a result, as Aurelien Tchouameni and Rodrygo fired narrowly wide, while Joselu created problems in the box.
Still, the crucial goal never came, and Atleti looked admittedly comfortable seeing off their bitter rivals.
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