Late Griezmann leveller earns Atletico draw at Real Madrid

There were just over 100 Atletico Madrid fans inside the Santiago Bernabeu to celebrate Antoine Griezmann’s late equaliser on Saturday, but it will have been celebrated by thousands more all over Spain. And not just by Atletico fans, either, because the French striker’s goal not only pegged city rivals Real Madrid back, but breathed life back into the La Liga title race. 

Griezmann’s effort arrived in the 85th minute but it looked like it would never arrive at all. Pepe had opened the scoring for Madrid early in the second half, heading home another pinpoint Toni Kroos cross, and Zinedine Zidane’s side looked set to hold on to the three points. But having dealt with everything thrown at them for so long — with Keylor Navas only really called upon to deny Fernando Torres one-on-one — they failed to deal with Griezmann when he wriggled free to latch on to Angel Correa’s excellent pass and slide home. 

Madrid still have control at the top of the table, but this makes things interesting. They are now three points clear of Barca — who play Malaga later on Saturday — and have a game in hand away against Celta Vigo. But with the Clasico to come later this month, things have tightened up in the battle for first place and Griezmann’s goal will have Barca believing again. 

‘The throne is ours’ was the message on the huge banner sprawled out behind one of the goals at the Bernabeu in the build up to kick off from the Madrid fans. Atletico have had their moments in recent seasons, though, winning the Copa del Rey final here in 2013 and also winning on each of their last three jaunts across the capital for league games. 

During the opening stages, though, it looked as if neither side was ready to take the throne. The best moments initially were Atletico’s — Saul Niguez flicked a Koke free-kick wide and Yannick Carrasco’s whipped cross caused panic in the box — but the home side soon grew into the game and took charge in the sizzling sunshine. 

Jan Oblak made the game’s first big save from Cristiano Ronaldo, tipping a fierce drive wide at his near post. Karim Benzema then went close. The French striker brought the ball down brilliantly, played a slick one-two with Ronaldo but was then denied by the Slovenian’s strong hand when it looked like the net would bulge. 

Only some stunning defending from Stefan Savic kept the scoreline goalless going into the break. Luka Modric raced forward, perfectly feeding Ronaldo, whose shot sailed past Oblak. However, racing back towards his own goal line, Savic somehow managed to flick the ball behind for a corner with his head. 

Atletico’s best chance of the half fell to Griezmann. Sergio Ramos gifted him the ball on the halfway line and he ran at Pepe, but he was forced wide and his eventual shot was tipped wide by Keylor Navas.

Madrid were the dominant force after the break, too. Ronaldo had already headed wide and Benzema was denied by Oblak from pinpoint range when they took a deserved lead. Kroos — for the 11th time in the league this season — was the provided as Pepe scored his side’s 25th headed goal of the campaign. A taste of their own medicine for Atletico, who would then return the favour, letting Madrid know how it feels to drop points late on. 

Having taken the lead and created several chances, Madrid completely changed tact. They sat back and stopped creating, choosing not to go for the kill. Ronaldo and Benzema became quiet, while Bale, who had a poor game, remained silent. 

Yet Atletico were not able to find the quality in the final third. They would have been frustrated to see their best chance fall to Torres, who had a tough afternoon. Put through one-on-one with Navas, he failed straight at the Costa Rican and when the clock ticked into the final five minutes it looked like that would prove the key moment. 

But the saying goes that you always get one more chance and luckily for Atletico, this time, it fell to Griezmann and he slid home his 15th league goal of the season, his 23rd in all competitions. A goal celebrated by Atletico fans, who are edging towards a third place finish, and by Barcelona fans, who could see their side level with Madrid by the end of the day.