Díaz gives Real Madrid slim advantage after Álvarez stunner for Atlético

This will be decided 14km east of here in eight days’ time. On a night that lacked a little thunder but had three fantastic goals, Rodrygo, Julián Alvarez and Brahim Díaz all stepping inside to bend the ball beyond outstretched fingers and into the far corner, the city’s fifth European derby delivered a victory for Real Madrid but no definitive conclusion. Atlético will host the second leg next Wednesday, and they will go into an occasion likely to be a lot more explosive than this with hope.

Diego Simeone may feel frustrated that long periods of control did not result in win, his team recovering from going behind in the fourth of what will be at least 180 minutes to draw level only for Díaz’s goal to beat them, but he agreed with Carlo Ancelotti’s prediction that this tie was never going to be settled on the first night. And if it could have been better, it might also have been worse: in the last minute, Marcos Llorente had to dive in as Kylian Mbappé escaped deep into the area and almost set up Vinícius for a dramatic, and painfully familiar finale against their great rivals and there was still time for the Brazilian to escape once more. This time, José María Giménez put himself on the line.