Real stay within four points of league leaders Barcelona with hard-fought win in Madrid derby. Published On 22 Mar 202622 Mar 2026Vinicius Jr scored twice as Real Madrid fought back to beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 in a breathless Spanish capital derby on Sunday, keeping Alvaro Arbeloa’s side within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.Atletico’s Ademola Lookman opened the scoring in the 33rd minute on Sunday, finishing a slick counterattack involving Matteo Ruggeri and a delightful back-heel from Giuliano Simeone.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listVinicius equalised from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute, after David Hancko clumsily tripped Brahim Diaz, and Federico Valverde capitalised on a Jose Maria Gimenez error three minutes later to make it 2-1 to Real.Nahuel Molina silenced Real’s Bernabeu stadium with a thunderous 30-metre strike in the 66th minute, but Vinicius restored Real’s lead with a cracking solo effort six minutes later.Valverde then saw red for an inexplicable challenge on Alex Baena, and Julian Alvarez struck the post as Atletico pressed, but Real held firm.Arbeloa praised his side for showing “pure Real Madrid mentality” to emerge with a difficult win.“We’re in a good moment. It wasn’t an easy match at all. The opponent made it very difficult for us,” he said.“We had to show a very strong mentality. They equalised again, fiercely, and we had to press again. That’s what I liked the most – the mentality of this team.”Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone said his side deserved to come away with more from the game.“We could have defended their goals better and done more in attack,” he said.“We’re facing teams that play well, and if you give them anything, they’ll hurt you. We deserved more.”Earlier on Sunday, Barcelona edged Rayo Vallecano 1-0 as Ronald Araujo headed in the winner in the 24th minute at Camp Nou, and Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia’s impressive performance showed why he is most …
