Alvaro Morata scored twice as Atlético Madrid beat Real Madrid to win the first derby in the capital of the season. Atleti got off to the perfect start when Samuel Lin’s cross from the left wing was headed in by Morata in the fourth minute.
The lead was then increased when Antoine Griezmann dived behind to head home Saul Niguez’s cross.
Real had a lot of possession, but mainly threatened with shots from distance and Jan Oblak couldn’t keep one from Toni Kroos, as he rushed in vain to his right.
The visitors were better going into half-time, but Atleti were back in front a minute after the restart when Morata nodded in his third header of the day after Saul’s perfect cross.
Real came closest to reducing the score through Aurelien Tchouameni and Antonio Rudiger, while Mario Hermoso saw a header fly off the crossbar at the other end of the pitch.
The result puts Real Madrid in third place in the table, while Diego Simeone’s side move up to fifth.
Real Madrid player ratings
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 5/10 – Didn’t get near any of the Atleti goals.
RB: Lucas Vazquez – 2/10 – Ran ragged by Atletico Madrid, who scored all three goals from his defensive flank.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 4/10 – Simply did not play well and looked completely out of sink with Alaba.
CB: David Alaba – 3/10 – All over the place. Caught under ball for both Morata’s goals.
LB: Fran Garcia – 4/10 – Hung out to dry by his manager’s tactics on Sunday evening.
CM: Federico Valverde – 4/10 – Didn’t fill in defensive gaps out wide nearly enough and it cost Madrid.
CM: Toni Kroos – 7/10 – Scored a fantastic long-range goal in the first half.
CM: Eduardo Camavinga – 4/10 – A clumsy outing from the young France international.
AM: Jude Bellingham – 5/10 – Played essentially as a lone striker in the first half and it didn’t work. Int he second half he didn’t see enough of the ball.
AM: Luka Modric – 4/10 – Subbed at half-time after a difficult first 45, largely because of Ancelotti’s extremely rogue tactical set-up above anything else.
ST: Rodryo Goes – 4/10 – Not at the races on Sunday evening.
Substitutes:
SUB: Joselu (45′ for Modric) – 5/10 – He didn’t make an impact.
SUB: Nacho Fernandez (56′ for Vazquez) – 5/10.
SUB: Aurelien Tchouameni (56′ for Camavinga) – 5/10.
SUB: Ferland Mendy (56′ for Garcia) – 5/10.
SUB: Brahim Diaz (70′ for Kroos) – 5/10.
Manager – Carlo Ancelotti – 2/10 – The legendary Italian manager’s decision to play five narrow midfielders ultimately cost his team the Madrid derby. Simeone’s side were able to exploit the space left out wide with ease.