Ancelotti escapes with point

Atletico Madrid won the battle in yesterday’s Spanish capital ‘derbi’ with a stirring and gutsy performance which skirted the lines of law at times.

But Real Madrid are still more likely to win the war after Cristiano Ronaldo’s late strike saw his side escape with a fortunate 2-2 draw.

Atletico recovered from conceding early when Karim Benzema was unmarked to sweep in from a corner, showing huge desire and aggression to push Madrid further and further back, and two superbly struck goals from Koke and Gabi had them ahead at the break. The majority of the 55,000 at Atletico Madrid’s Estadio Vicente Calderon spent much of the second half howling at decisions made by Basque referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro, and groaning at misses from home centre-forward Diego Costa.