Toluwani Lasisi
It was meant to be a football match but it turned out to be a piece of history.
And if history is about heroes and victims, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid are the chief characters in the historical game.
Atletico proved bookmakers wrong as they scored five goals against rivals Real Madrid for the first time in nearly 75 years.
It was only the fourth time Atletico had scored at least five in a Madrid derby.
Real lost for the first time this season, having won all six of their six La Liga matches as well as their Champions League opener, a 2-1 victory over Marseille.
The last time that Real had conceded as many in La Liga was in a 5-1 defeat by Barcelona in October 2018.
Robin le Normand’s header had given Diego Simeone’s side an early lead that was overturned by superb goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler.
But Alexander Sorloth levelled the game at 2-2 in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
And the hosts took charge after the break when Julian Alvarez, who had hit the post in the first half, converted from the penalty spot before curling home a brilliant free-kick.
Atletico went into their shell, but held their cross-city rivals at bay until Antoine Griezmann grabbed their fifth goal deep into stoppage time.
The result maintained an impressive record against Real in La Liga for Simeone’s side, who have not lost in their past six league encounters with Los Blancos.
Attention now turns to the Champions League, with both sides in action on Tuesday, 1 October. Real Madrid travel to Kazakhstan to take on Kairat Almaty, while Atletico Madrid host Eintracht Frankfurt.
