Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone names ‘best team in La Liga’

Real Madrid managed to retain their top spot in the Spanish league as Kylian Mbappe’s second-half goal canceled out Julian Alvarez’s first-half penalty at the Bernabeu.

Atletico were awarded a contentious penalty after a VAR review determined that Aurelien Tchouameni had fouled Samuel Lino.

Former Manchester City forward Alvarez cheekily chipped the ball down the middle, beating the diving Thibaut Courtois and silencing the home crowd.

A win would have propelled Atletico Madrid to the top of La Liga, but Mbappe’s equalizer shortly after halftime—his 16th league goal of the season—kept Real Madrid at the summit.

Jude Bellingham’s blocked shot set up Mbappe’s opportunity to equalize, and the England midfielder continued to be a threat as Real Madrid pushed for a winner. Bellingham hit the crossbar with a header and forced a save from Jan Oblak.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, leaving Real Madrid just one point ahead of Atletico Madrid in the La Liga table and five points ahead of Barcelona, who have a chance to close the gap when they visit Sevilla on Sunday.

‘I still insist that Barcelona is the best team in La Liga,’ Simeone said after the Madrid derby.

‘They attack very well, they have incredible speed in their players, and they play very well as a team. Let’s see if they win tomorrow. It’ll be fun to see the journalists enjoy this tight race at the top.’

Discussing his side’s performance in the Madrid derby, Simeone added: ‘I think in the first half, we had a very good first half.

‘We weren’t as clinical in the final metres to take advantage of the chances that we had. We could have taken those better.

‘In the second half, it started early with their goal, they played more intensely in the second half.

‘After 20 minutes or so, we had more important chances, Julian, Llorente twice, and in the end it ended with a draw where both teams probably feel that we could have taken more.’

When asked whether he felt it was a case of two points dropped rather than a point gained, Simeone said: ‘I respect all opinions. I see what I see, what I said before.

‘We could’ve taken our chances, our counters, controls close to the box, a little better, with more clarity as we have in other games.

‘In the second half, it was a different game and they pushed more. Their goal, then they hit the woodwork. And it ended with that situation.

‘There were chances to take the game, but we couldn’t do it clearly. That meant that we had to draw. Obviously, we had the feeling that we could’ve won it for much of the game.’

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, felt his team ‘deserved more’ and refused to discuss Atletico’s controversial penalty.

‘I think we deserved more,’ he said. ‘It was a very good game in the second half. The first half was totally different.

‘We came out with good feelings, especially in the second half. The penalty situation affected the team. We played too slowly before.

‘In the second half we took advantage of the width of the field. It was a close, competitive match. As I said, we came out of the match with a draw, but encouraged.’