"On Saturday, intriguing 22nd round matches took place in the Spanish league.
Madrid's "Real" greeted their neighbors, the "Atletico" footballers in front of their fans. In the second half, the "white team" turned a higher gear and achieved a vital victory in a principled duel.
"Real" started the match with a strong defensive line. Initially, "Atletico" had to adapt, but later understood the opponents' game and created enough good opportunities to score themselves.
In the second half, Zinedine Zidane made two substitutions immediately which proved to be beneficial.
In the 56th minute, Karim Benzema scored the only and winning goal. Vinicius Junior and Ferland Mendy contributed the most, with Mendy's pass resulting in the goal.
For the remainder of the match, the "white team" defended solidly and celebrated their first victory against "Atletico" in the Spanish league season.
The leading "Real" now has a 6-point lead over "Barcelona". Meanwhile, "Atletico" has fallen behind by 13 points.
Zinedine Zidane's team continues their unbeaten streak in all competitions for 21 consecutive matches.
"Valencia" took advantage of "Atletico's" stumble by narrowly defeating "Celta de Vigo" and pushing "rojiblancos" down to eleventh place.
In other matches of this round, "Granada" and "Real Valladolid" secured victories.
Result:
"Real Madrid" 1 - 0 "Atletico"
56' [1 - 0] K. Benzema
"Granada" 2 - 1 "Espanyol"
27' [0 - 1] R. De Tomas
38' [1 - 1] D. Machis
46' [2 - 1] C. Fernandez
"Mallorca" 0 - 1 "Valladolid"
56' [0 - 1] E. Unal
"Valencia" 1 - 0 "Celta"
77' [1 - 0] C. Soler
