Atletico Madrid 3-1 Real Madrid: Player ratings as Los Blancos suffer first defeat of season and fall behind Barcelona in title race | La Liga 2023-24

Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday, September 24, to end Los Merengues' run of five straight wins in La Liga.

The home side started on the front foot and didn't take long to make the breakthrough. Samuel Lino was given time and space to pick out a cross for Alvaro Morata, who escaped his marker and headed into the far corner to put his team 1-0 up inside five minutes.

Atletico Madrid doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Lino found Saul Niguez, whose cross was headed home by Antoine Griezmann. After being stunned by two quickfire goals, the visitors slowly settled into the match and began to dictate proceedings.

Real Madrid reduced the deficit in the 35th minute when Federico Valverde's cross was headed out to the edge of the box, where midfielder Toni Kroos sent a thumping right-footed strike into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Real Madrid almost scored an equalizer just before halftime when Eduardo Camavinga's strike was rightfully ruled out for offside.

Diego Simeone's men came out after the break with a spring in their steps and increased their lead just one minute into the second half. Saul Níguez's chipped cross was met by Morata, who was free to head home his second of the night.

Despite their best efforts, Real Madrid couldn't get back into the game and were consigned to their first defeat of the season, which sees them sit third in the table, one point behind both Barcelona and Girona.

On that note, here are the player ratings for Real Madrid:

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Kepa Arrizabalaga - 5/10

Kepa Arrizabalaga couldn't do anything about all three of Atletico Madrid's goals, with his defenders at fault for all of them. He did make a few decent saves when called upon.

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Francisco Garcia - 4/10

Francisco Garcia remains a good attacker and a suspect defender. Against Atletico Madrid, he struggled to make any impact going forward while also not doing his defensive duties well.

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David Alaba - 3/10

David Alaba lost track of Alvaro Morata for Atletico Madrid's first goal and repeated the mistake for their second and third goals.

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Antonio Rudiger - 3/10

Antonio Rudiger was equally at fault for all three goals, as he appeared to have communication issues with David Alaba. The German defender will be hoping to forget this performance in an instant.

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Lucas Vazquez - 3/10

Lucas Vazquez struggled to deal with Samuel Lino, who rang rings around the defender and set up two of his team's three goals.

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Toni Kroos - 5/10

Toni Kroos struggled in the midfield as Atletico Madrid found it easy to play through the middle. He did score an excellent goal, which, however, did not matter at the end of the night.

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Eduardo Camavinga - 5/10

Eduardo Camavinga was defensively suspect, and his struggle to hit the ground running this season continues. He did find the back of the net, only for the goal to be correctly ruled out for offside.

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Federico Valverde - 5/10

It was a rare night of mistakes for Federico Valverde, whose failure to track Samuel Lino led to Atletico Madrid's opening goal.

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Luka Modric - 4/10

Luka Modric struggled to get going in the match and looked out of sync with his teammates, which was why he was taken off at halftime.

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Rodrygo - 5/10

Rodrygo lacked support in the first half, as he spent most of his time chasing shadows. He did better in the second half but didn't see enough of the ball to make any impact.

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Jude Bellingham - 5/10

Jude Bellingham switched between playing as a lone striker and on the left wing, which did not help bring out his best. He got more freedom in the second half following Joselu's introduction, but he didn't see enough of the ball to impact the proceedings.

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Ratings of Real Madrid substitutes

Joselu - 5/10

Joselu replaced Modric at the start of the second half. While Real Madrid did get better following his introduction, it made no impact on the outcome of the match.

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Nacho Fernandez - 5/10

Nacho Fernandez replaced Lucas Vazquez in the 57th minute and did better than his compatriot defensively.

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Aurelien Tchouameni - 5/10

Aurelien Tchouameni replaced Eduardo Camavinga in the 57th minute and did much better defensively than his compatriot for a shorter duration.

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Ferland Mendy: 5/10

Ferland Mendy replaced Francisco Garcia in the 57th minute and picked up booking almost as soon as he got onto the pitch. Despite the result, he will be happy to have finally made his comeback from injury for Real Madrid.

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Brahim Diaz - 5/10

Brahim Diaz replaced Toni Kroos with 20 minutes left on the clock. He did his best to spur his team forward, but ultimately failed in his efforts.