Copa del Rey: Advantage Atletico as Real beaten 2-0 in the first leg

Torres returns to win in Madrid derby for the first time in the last-16 clash.

When Fernando Torres made his debut for Atletico Madrid as a teenager in 2001, Los Rojiblancos were playing in the Segunda Division. On his second debut, the former  captain returned to the Vicente Calderon with his beloved Atletico – the champions of Spain.

A lot has changed and so have Atletico’s fortunes in the Madrid derby. The trend continued as the Spain striker won for the first time against Real Madrid as an Atletico player, with the hosts emerging 2-0 victors from the hard-fought Copa del Rey last 16 first leg.



After a goalless first half, Raul Garcia won and converted a penalty, which was followed up by a perfectly-placed glancing header from Jose Gimenez to give Atletico a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg against the defending champions at the Santiago Bernabeu on January 15.

“We have a chance. It is clear that Atletico have the advantage but at home anything can happen. The odds aren’t in our favour but we will try our best,” said Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, whose side have now lost back-to-back games to start 2015 after a run of 22 consecutive victories.

His counterpart Diego Simeone also refused to accept that the tie was now Atletico’s to lose. “We have a lot of respect for Real Madrid. They have a great coach and squad and the tie is definitely not over.”

Both sides rung the changes after having played in La Liga over the weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo was the glaring omission for Los Blancos as Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez started either side of Karim Benzema.

It was a similar story for Atletico, with Simeone making seven changes to the side that won 3-1 against Levante.

And it was virtually Atletico’s second-string side that came up with the goods as they soaked up considerable early pressure before emerging as a greater attacking force in the second half, and all of Real’s considerable attacking talents — including Ronaldo once he came off the bench — were comfortably dealt with by Atletico, who have emerged as favourites to go through to the next round. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th,  2015.

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