Real Madrid Watch Atletico Claim Both the Derby and Ownership of the Capital

Sixty-five minutes were up on the clock, and Atletico Madrid were surging. Twelve minutes earlier, Antoine Griezmann put them ahead and put Real Madrid on the ropes, and now the visitors were in total control. Not in a possession-dominating, shot-raining, awe-inspiring kind of way, but in a very Atletico way. 

Real Madrid were growing desperate. On the right flank, two of Real's players, Isco and Borja Mayoral, hurried and harassed an isolated Juanfran in a way Real only do when they absolutely have to. Possession was there to be won; they had a numbers advantage and Juanfran had nowhere to go. 

Or so they thought.

As Isco wrestled with the Atletico right-back and Mayoral closed off the passing angle, Juanfran wrapped his right boot around the ball and steered it through the pair of them, haring off into the background as the Real pair looked at each other, utterly bewildered. 

Isco threw his head back. Exasperation spread across his face, a face that said it all: "How did he do that?"

"How do they keep doing this?"

"How do they keep doing this to us?"

The answer is simple: They're better. 

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

This was the 10th meeting between these fierce rivals across the last two seasons, and the record in that time is staggering. With their 1-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, Atletico have won five and drawn four of those 10. Real have won once. Yes, once. 

It's become unavoidable that Real don't know how to beat their rivals from the down the hill. They've run out of ideas; everything has been tried, and everything has failed. Real have had enough. Atleti, though—they can't get enough. 

To watch these sides on Saturday was to watch two outfits of remarkable contrast. Atleti, with their clarity of purpose, know exactly who they are; Real, for all their talent, simply don't. 

When Diego Simeone's men arrived in Chamartin, everyone knew what to expect. Real would dominate possession, and Atleti would sit tight and deep, biding their time, waiting for their moment. The pattern is absurdly predictable, but somehow the prior knowledge doesn't help Real. Even though they know what's coming, they can't do anything about it.

This is the beauty of Atletico, but it's not just about what they do; it's about how they do it. 

On Saturday, Atleti's defensive organisation was truly magnificent. Guarding the central channel of the pitch, the visitors owned all the dangerous space and forced Real to the flanks. Once Atleti had them there, they squeezed them again; the wide midfielders in Koke and Saul doubled up with the full-backs, and the forwards in Griezmann and Fernando Torres dropped in to fill the space. 

There was no way through. Real Madrid, time and again, would work the ball toward the corner before being forced to make big shoehorns, going the long way around to the other side via Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane at the back. Even crossing the ball was arduous for Real; Atleti just wouldn't let them, blocking them, closing them down, forcing the ball either backward or out of play.

Atleti thwarted Real. Again. They drove them to insanity. Again. They beat them. Again. 

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

This was Atleti's third straight league victory at the Bernabeu. No opposing team in history had ever done that before, and 1,037 days have passed since Real last defeated Atleti in the league. 

"Simeone, king of the Bernabeu," said Marca with one headline. "Simeone and the importance of a game plan," it said with another.

The suggestion was Real didn't have one. But it's not just a clearly defined game plan they lack; it's a plan of any sort. An all-encompassing, big-picture plan.

And everyone recognises it.

As it did during last November's Clasico thrashing, the Bernabeu aimed its fury at president Florentino Perez on Saturday. The white handkerchiefs were out again in another panolada, and chants of "Florentino out" rang around the stands. They have a point.

"Time to stop blaming the manager," said Marca. And it is. In 2013, Atleti sent Jose Mourinho on his way with a cup defeat. Since, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez and now Zinedine Zidane have been powerless to stop Simeone and co. The identity of the manager means little here; Real's problems run far deeper, all the way to the core of the club's identity that has been taken somewhere else, away from the pitch. 

"Next year we may have to change," conceded Zidane. "There will be changes."

There will have to be. There's no choice. Barcelona and Atletico have split the last two league titles; Barcelona will almost certainly win this season's; Atletico, not Real, will be their closest challengers. 

On the pitch, Real are now inferior to both.

The league was once theirs. It's not anymore, and neither is their own city.

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