Real Madrid remain top of La Liga with a one point advantage over Barcelona, who easily saw off Almeria last night 4-1, after Los Blancos and Atletico de Madrid drew 2-2 at the Vicente Calderon.
And the papers this morning are calling the derby a war without a winner. Like most derbies, this was a tense affair that threatened to spill over at times. It looked as though the game wouldn’t end with 11 vs 11 at one point.
Carlo Ancelotti accused the Atletico players of being a touch too violent in their approach to many of the challenges yesterday. There were plenty of theatrics on display too, with Pepe and Godin involved in comical scenes, while Diego Costa also earned himself a yellow card for taking a dive.
In their assessment of the game, both Marca and AS question Diego Lopez for the second Atletico goal – the 35-yard effort by Gabi. Was the keeper to slow to react? The debate could well keep the issue of who should be the number one alive. Would Casillas have saved an effort like that?
As the season enters the final stages, AS looks at the remaining fixtures for the top three sides, and says they favour Los Blancos, who have seven at home and five away. Barcelona have six at home and six away, while Atletico have five home games left and seven away trips to make.
Lopez should pull up his st…….otherwise.
Lopez could have done better. Age is telling on him.