Atletico Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid : 5 talking points as Karim Benzema breaks Atletico hearts | La Liga 2020-21

#3 Marcos Llorente shines but comes up short yet again

Marcos Llorente was one of Atletico Madrid's best performers against Real Madrid.

In his previous four games against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid's Marcos Llorente ended up on the losing side on three occasions.

Clearly, the 26-yr-old had the motivation to end his hoodoo against his former side. It was the perfect occasion, as he id experiencing his best season and is at the peak of his powers.

What a performance it was - the return of Kieran Trippier allowed Marcos Llorente to return to his high energy style on the right channel, making countless runs to lead counter-attacks, the best of which resulted in Atletico Madrid's goal.

Four of Marcos Llorente's eight assists have been for Luis Suárez, no player has assisted another team-mate more often in LaLiga this season than. 🤝 https://t.co/R0SEgpLitF

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 7, 2021

Plenty of Real Madrid fans were upset when the midfielder was sold to Atletico Madrid, and the sight of him and Mario Hermoso shining in their rivals' colours ought to sting quite a bit.

As it turned out, Llorente failed to beat his former side yet again but perhaps going on to win the La Liga title ought to be the best way to respond.

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#4 Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone outfoxes Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane

Diego Simeone deserved a rare win over Zinedine Zidane.

Historically, Diego Simeone has had a hard time beating Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid. His poor run of results against the Frenchman continued. This game, however, was as close as the Atletico Madrid boss has come to beating Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane has never lost an away game against Diego Simeone's Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid are the only side not to lose a LaLiga game at the Wanda Metropolitano.Business as usual. pic.twitter.com/n4cIvgxnXx

— William Hill (@WilliamHill) March 7, 2021

Realising Real Madrid's strength along the spine and weakness down the wings, Simeone unleashed his wingbacks, with Kieran Trippier, Marcos Llorente and Yannick Carrasco tormenting Real Madrid for much of the game.

Even after Zidane switched to a four-man midfield in the second half, Atletico Madrid had the answers, compacting their defensive set-up through the middle.

Simeone ought to be left wondering what more he could have done, as Atletico Madrid ought to have ended the game as a contest multiple times in the second half. His tactics were perfect, but sometimes football is all about luck.

And who is luckier than Zinedine Zidane?

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#5 La Liga title race heats up

Ronald Koeman ought to probably be the happiest person with the result.

87 minutes into the game, and Atletico Madrid were staring at an eight-point lead over Real Madrid and a five-point lead over Barcelona, all with a game in hand.

A La Liga title race is never truly done, though, and that proved so once again.

A sweetly-struck goal from Karim Benzema means things look much closer at the summit now. Real Madrid and Barcelona have a clasico to play; Atletico Madrid could potentially crash out to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League and start a downward spiral, and things could change yet again.

Nevertheless, it has been a fascinating season, with Barcelona and Real Madrid counted out multiple times, only for the two clubs to keep coming back and keeping up the pace. What a final 12 games we potentially have in store!