Kylian Mbappé scored in his first capital derby against Atletico Madrid as Real Madrid fought back for a 1-1 draw and kept its slim lead of the Spanish league on Saturday.
Next up for Mbappé and Madrid is a trip to Manchester City on Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League knockout round playoff.
Julián Álvarez put Atletico ahead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute. Mbappé equalized in the 50th for the hosts, which stayed one point ahead of Atletico in the standings, The Associated Press reported.
Jude Bellingham hit the crossbar with a header as Madrid searched for a second goal. Atletico goalkeeper Jan Olbak made saves to deny Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior and Mbappé to split the points at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“We knew how to hang in there and had our chances,” Álvarez said. “We are in the fight and will stay in it right to the end.”
Atletico, which spent big last summer to acquire Álvarez and other reinforcements, is trying to add to league titles in 2021 and 2014 under coach Diego Simeone.
Barcelona, in third place, is five points behind Madrid before visiting Sevilla on Sunday.
Mbappé had missed the first Atletico derby of the season, a 1-1 draw in September, because of injury.
A spate of injuries left Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti relying on a makeshift backline of Lucas Vázquez, regular midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, youth player Raul Asencio, and Fran García.
A reckless stretch of his boot by Tchouaméni that ended up tripping Samuel Lino was spotted by a video review referee and sent Álvarez to the penalty spot.
The former Man City striker gently stroked his penalty down the middle as Thibaut Courtois dived to his left.
Antoine Griezmann showed again his great value to Atletico with precision passing even under duress. The French midfielder twice placed perfectly weighted balls that left Álvarez and Lino in good position to get off shots inside the area, but clumsy touches by both ruined the opportunities.
“It is a draw that leaves both teams thinking they could have gotten a better result,” Simeone said. “We had some situations that we lacked the clarity we needed to resolve better.”
Second half to Real Rodrygo sparked the Madrid comeback just after halftime when he dribbled past Javi Galan and Lino on the right side and slipped a ball to Bellingham in the heart of the box. Bellingham’s scuffed shot hit a defender and fell to Mbappé to rifle home for his first goal against Atletico.
Mbappé had missed the first Atletico derby of the season, a 1-1 draw in September, because of injury.
Madrid poured forward searching for a second goal with Atletico rattled. Vinícius dribbled down the left side and scooped the ball for Bellingham, who smashed a header off the woodwork.
Simeone changed both his full backs with Reinildo and Nahuel Molina in the 63rd, but Oblak still had to come to Atletico’s rescue on three occasions.
“It is going to be a tightly contested league until the very end,” Ancelotti said.
Changes for Man City Ancelotti hinted that he will make changes to his starting 11 for City, most likely in midfield since he has few options in defense other than including Ferland Mendy, and will find it hard to touch his attack. That means that Dani Ceballos could likely make way for Eduardo Camavinga or Luka Modric.
Former Madrid defender Marcelo was honored before kickoff after he announced his retirement this week.
Oihan Sancet scored a hat trick to lead fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao’s 3-0 rout of Girona as the Basque club moved to within one point of Barcelona.
Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic, which only fields players from or near the Basque Country region of northern Spain, hasn’t lost in 14 consecutive rounds, dating back to a defeat at Girona on Oct. 6.
Antony scores but Celta wins Antony scored his first goal since joining Real Betis on loan from Manchester United, but Celta Vigo rallied from two goals down to earn a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory.
Antony deftly curled in a shot from inside the box to put Betis ahead before Diego Llorente headed in a second goal in the 22nd.
Betis twice hit the woodwork before Fran Beltran started Celta’s fightback with a powerful strike from outside the area in the 63rd. Javi Rodríguez scrambled in the equalizer before Williot Swedberg got the 87th-minute winner.
Support for Kirian Alejandro Baena and Ayoze Pérez scored in Villarreal’s 2-1 win at Las Palmas.
The teams stopped playing momentarily in the 20th minute to join the fans in applauding Kirian Rodríguez, who wears No. 20, in a show of support for the Las Palmas midfielder. Rodríguez announced this week that he will be stepping away from soccer for a second time to treat recurring cancer.
