Carlo Ancelotti’s team relied on two moments of individual brilliance to secure a narrow first-leg victory in their last-16 tie against their rivals, Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid pulled off a display of Champions League magic, with Brahim Diaz providing the decisive moment in their 2-1 first-leg win over Atletico Madrid. Although Los Blancos were outplayed for significant stretches of the match, spectacular strikes from Rodrygo and Brahim gave them a slim advantage heading into the second leg.
Rodrygo opened the scoring just four minutes into the game, running onto Federico Valverde’s pass before cutting onto his weaker left foot and sending a shot into the far corner of the net.
Atletico were very much in contention, consistently threatening on the break. They equalized thanks to a fantastic strike from the in-form Julian Alvarez, who evaded a challenge before curling a wonderful effort past Thibaut Courtois.
The momentum shifted back in Madrid’s favor at the start of the second half when Brahim Diaz placed an excellent finish past Jan Oblak after executing some tidy work in the Atleti box.
The visitors struggled to respond as Real entered cruise control following Luka Modric’s introduction. Courtois wasn’t called into action in the closing stages, and Madrid will head into the second leg with a 2-1 lead to protect next Wednesday. They could have even extended their lead in stoppage time, but Kylian Mbappe’s cross for Vinicius Junior was not up to standard.
