Atletico Madrid condemned rival, Real Madrid to their first defeat in the 2025/26 campaign, with a historic 5-2 scoreline. Xabi Alonso’s side entered the match with an impressive seven wins out of seven games in all competitions, and solid defence.
Atlético, who started the day a full nine points adrift of their neighbours after just six games, set off in determined fashion and could have taken an early lead when striker Alexander Sørloth had a clear chance, only to be denied by defender Éder Militão.
Lineups
Atletico Starting XI: Oblak; Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Hancko; Giuliano Simeone, Koke, Barrios, Nico Gonzalez; Alvarez, Sorloth.
Starting XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde, Tchouameni; Bellingham, Guler, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe.
Jude Bellingham made his return to the starting XI after making appearances off the bench in recent games following an injury.
Antoine Griezmann’s starting berth remained unsure in recent months, after ending last season with goal drought. He came off the bench to add the fifth goal today.
Atletico Madrid scored five goals against city rivals Real for the first time in nearly 75 years when they fought back from behind in a pulsating derby.
It was only the fourth time Atletico had scored at least five in a Madrid derby, the last occasion being a 6-3 victory in November 1950.
Head-to-head and Standing
With the win, Atletico extended their La Liga unbeaten run against Real to 6 games. Real last win against Atletico in La Liga was on September 18, 2022, with a 2-1 victory at the Metropolitano.
Real remain top of La Liga by two points from second-placed Barcelona, who host Real Sociedad on Sunday 16:30 GMT, while Atletico are six points adrift in fourth spot.
Match Details
The entertaining game at the Estadio Civitas Metropolitano started with Robin Le Normand heading the hosts into a 14th-minute lead, but goals from Kylian Mbappé and Arda Güler turned the tie around for the leaders.
However, Sørloth’s equalizer in first-half stoppage time set the stage for Álvarez to convert 51st-minute penalty and then beat Thibaut Courtois with a free-kick 12 minutes later before substitute Antoine Griezmann completed the job.
Álvarez proved to be the hero for Atlético Madrid once again, ensuring they came from behind to hand their derby rivals a heavy defeat.
Real will look to put the defeat behind when they travel to Kazakhstan to take on Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, October 1.
Atletico will host Eintracht Frankfurt same day as they look forward to winning their first game of the new UCL campaign, after a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool in the opener.
