It was too late for Real Madrid to save two points at the Santiago Bernabeu; Marcos Llorente scored a late equalizer for Atletico Madrid.

The final score of 1-1 doesn’t help Atletico’s slim hopes of getting into the title race, but it does help Girona. With the draw, the gap at the top is now only two points and the second-placed team will be coming to the Bernabeu next weekend.

There was trouble for Real Madrid before the game began when Vinicius hurt his neck and had to leave the starting lineup. Joselu was supposed to take his place, but Carlo Ancelotti chose Brahim Diaz instead. The young player from Manchester City wowed the crowd in the first half and scored a smart goal.

Atletico had several chances to stop a Real Madrid drive, but they didn’t. Diaz then put the ball past Oblak after Koke sent it to him.

Antonio Rudiger was hurt, so Real Madrid put Dani Carvajal in the middle of the defense. With Diaz starting up front, they were a small team that night and were always going to be vulnerable to high balls into the box.

True enough, Joselu headed in an Antoine Griezmann corner kick in the second half to give Atletico Madrid a goal that tied the game. The goal didn’t count, though, because Saul was offside right in front of Andriy Lunin on the goal line.

In the second half, Diego Simeone made a lot of changes, and both Memphis Depay and Angel Correa put more pressure on Real Madrid’s defense. However, it looked like Carlo Ancelotti’s team would win all three points and extend their lead at the top to four points, 13 points ahead of Atletico.

But Real Madrid lost in extra time because they were weak in the air. Memphis Depay flicked on a long ball forward, and Llorente and Nacho were all over each other for the second ball.

Nacho tried to clear the ball with his feet, but Llorente looped a shot over Lunin, and Atletico tied the game.

When asked if he thought it was a win, Llorente said, “No, it’s two points lost.” They will have to win either the Copa del Rey or the Champions League this year to get any hardware. 

“The league is the most important thing for Real Madrid right now, and they are focusing on their game next week against second-placed Girona.”

The gap between them isn’t as big as it could have been because Llorente scored late.