Thanks to a lively start, Atletico Madrid celebrated a victory against their rivals in the city derby against Real on Sunday (September 24th, 2023) in La Liga.
Alvaro Morata (4th, 46th) and Antoine Griezmann (18th) scored the Atletico goals in a 3-1 (2-1) win on matchday 6. Toni Kroos (35th) scored the next goal with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Shortly before the break, the “Royals” even celebrated the supposed equalizer. But Eduardo Camavinga’s goal (44th) was disallowed due to an offside position.
Morata’s second goal 37 seconds after the restart meant the preliminary decision. Real responded with furious attacks, but couldn’t get close. After five wins in five games, Real (15 points) lost a game in the league for the first time and slipped to third place. The new league leaders are defending champions FC Barcelona (16 points) ahead of the surprise team FC Girona, who celebrated their fifth win in six unbeaten games in a wild 5-3 win against RCD Mallorca.
Barca after flattering Victory first
Robert Lewandowski and Joao Cancelo had already secured Barcelona’s 3-2 (0-1) win against Celta Vigo in a dramatic final spurt on Saturday. The top Polish striker scored twice (81′, 85′) in his comeback against Celta after being 2-0 down. Cancelo (89th) scored the winning goal to make it 3-2 shortly before the end of regular time.
For the Catalans with German national players Marc-André ter Stegen and Ilkay Gündogan, it was a flattering success that they only earned with a strong final phase. Jörgen Strand Larsen (19th) and Tassos Douvikas (76th) had previously given Rafael Benitez’s visiting team the lead.
One day after the announcement of the contract extension with coach Xavi until 2025, ter Stegen initially kept his team in the game with some “bestial parades” (“Marca”). However, he was powerless when it came to conceding goals.
