Real won a hard-fought victory in the Madrid derby to stay within four points of league leaders Barcelona.
Published March 22, 2026
Real Madrid fought back to beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 in a breathless derby in the Spanish capital on Sunday, with Vinicius Junior scoring twice to keep Alvaro Arbeloa’s side within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Atlético’s Ademola Lookman opened the scoring in the 33rd minute on Sunday, following a deft counter-attack from Matteo Ruggieri and a superb backheel from Giuliano Simeone.
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Vinicius equalized with a penalty in the 52nd minute after David Hanko awkwardly tripped Brahim Díaz, and three minutes later Federico Valverde capitalized on a mistake by Jose Maria Jimenez to make Real 2-1.
Nahuel Molina silenced Real’s Bernabéu stadium in the 66th minute with a spectacular 30-metre strike, but Vinicius restored Real’s lead with a stunning solo goal six minutes later.
Valverde was then red for an inexplicable challenge on Alex Baena, and as Atlético piled on the pressure, Julian Alvarez hit the post, but Real held on.
Arbeloa praised his team for showing “pure Real Madrid mentality” in winning a difficult victory.
“We are in a good period. It was not an easy game by any means. The opponent was a very difficult game for us,” he said.
“We had to show a very strong mentality. They tied it up hard again and we had to press again. That’s what I liked most, the mentality of this team.”
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said his team deserved more from this match.
“We defended the opponent’s goal better and could have done more offensively,” he said.
“We’re playing a team that plays well. If you give them anything, they’re going to hurt you. We deserved better than that.”
Earlier on Sunday, Ronald Araujo scored the winning goal in the 24th minute as Barcelona defeated Rayo Vallecano 1-0 at Camp Nou. Barcelona goalkeeper Joao Garcia’s impressive performance showed why he is most likely to represent Spain at the World Cup.
Araujo took a corner kick from Joao Cancelo and jumped over his marker to score the goal.
Rafinha also gave the hosts three chances to score in the first half. He went wide on the break, forcing goalkeeper Augusto Batalla to tip his shot over the bar and into the woodwork shortly after Araujo’s goal.
Garcia saved a shot from Carlos Martín early in the game, blocked a header from Unai López early in the second half, and had enough to put Jorge de Frutos’ low shot on target in the final seconds.
Garcia was named to Spain’s squad for the first time on Friday ahead of two friendlies as a prelude to this summer’s World Cup.
In Sunday’s other match, Alaves erased a three-goal deficit against Celta Vigo to win 4-3, achieving one of the club’s most memorable victories. This impressive result lifted Alaves out of the relegation zone.
Goals from Dani Vivian and Oyhan Sunset helped Athletic beat Real Betis 2-1 in Bilbao in their first match since Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde announced he would leave the Basque club at the end of the season.
