Atletico thrash Real Madrid 5-2 in thrilling derby as Alvarez grabs brace | Football News | USAEMALL.com

Julian Alvarez scores twice as Atletico came from behind to inflict a first defeat of the season on city rivals Real.

Julian Alvarez scored twice as Atletico Madrid came from behind to thrash city rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a pulsating derby that handed the La Liga leaders their first loss after a perfect start to the season.

The thrilling encounter at a raucous Metropolitano stadium saw Atletico fight back from 2-1 down to claim a memorable victory that lifted them to fourth place with 12 points.

Real Madrid remain top of La Liga on 18 points, two ahead of Barcelona, who have a game in hand.

Atletico’s aggressive start paid off when Robin Le Normand opened the scoring with a header in the 14th minute.

However, Kylian Mbappe burst through to level with an unstoppable strike from close range in a quick counter in the 25th minute, with Arda Guller netting a volley from a Vinicius Jr cross 11 minutes later to put the visitors in front.

Alexander Sorloth’s header in added time before the break gave Atletico a boost and they regained the lead five minutes into the second half when Alvarez converted a penalty after Guler’s high boot clipped rival Nico Gonzalez on the face inside the box.

After Alvarez extended their lead in the 64th minute with a sublime free kick into the top corner, substitute Antoine Griezmann sealed the win in a quick counter in added time.

Alvarez’s performance was sweet redemption after his controversial double-kick penalty contributed to Atletico losing to Madrid in last season’s Champions League.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico dealt Xabi Alonso his first loss of the season after Madrid had won all six La Liga games and its Champions League opener. Alonso’s only other loss since taking over as Madrid’s coach in the summer was against Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semifinals in July.

Barcelona can overtake leader Madrid with a win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Real Madrid coach Alonso admitted that his side deserved to lose the game.

“We were bad at everything. We couldn’t string passes together, we couldn’t win duels, we couldn’t create chances,” he said.

“We need to analyse what happened and get better, and we will.”

The Madrid coach tried to find positives from this painful defeat as he looked ahead to the rest of the season.

“This is a process,” he said. “We’re in a phase where we’re building an identity. We will get better, for sure.”