Atletico Madrid beats Real Madrid 2-1 in derby as Rudiger scores late header

Real Madrid came close, but close wasn’t enough. Atletico Madrid defeated their city rivals 2-1 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on September 20, 2026, in the seventh round of La Liga’s 2026-27 season, handing Carlo Ancelotti’s side a painful home-soil defeat in one of Spanish football’s most charged fixtures. Antonio Rudiger’s 88th-minute header gave the scoreline a more respectable look, but by then Atletico had already done the hard work, and Real had been playing with ten men long enough for it to matter. How the goals fell Atletico broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute. Alex Grimaldo stepped up and converted, giving Diego Simeone’s side the lead in a match that had been tight and physical through the opening hour. Six minutes later, Jonathan David doubled Atletico’s advantage in the 59th minute, finishing to make it 2-0 and effectively turning the derby into a damage-limitation exercise for the visitors. The red card for Real defender Dean Huijsen compounded the misery. Reduced to ten players, Real’s task went from difficult to near-impossible. Rudiger provided the drama, if not the result. The German centre-back rose to meet a cross and headed home in the...