How Real and Atletico cancelled one another out in Madrid phoney war that benefits Barcelona

La Liga in focus: ‘The athletes eat the artists,’ one local newspaper surmised after a frustrating match in which Zinedine Zidane took a leaf out of the Diego Simeone playbook

Both Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone got what they wanted out of Saturday’s La Liga 'derbi' - but the real winners in the Spanish capital this weekend were a Barcelona team who made up important ground in the title race.

The signature moment of an intense but uninspiring game at the Wanda Metropolitano came with 20 minutes remaining, a time when the play often starts to stretch out, gaps begin to appear at either end, especially if one or both teams is going for the victory.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak caught a cross and rolled the ball out quickly to Thomas Lemar, who turned midway inside his own half and looked to counter attack. The rojiblanco winger immediately saw all three of Madrid’s central midfielders facing him, blocking down any options, with none having taken a risk to get forward when their team attacked. The counter soon fizzled out. And the game did too.

Zidane showed what he wanted from the start - with athletic and hardworking youngster Fede Valverde preferred to the more creative James Rodriguez or fit again Luka Modric in midfield. Simeone also sprung a slight surprise by starting winger Vitolo in a narrow attacking role, meaning lots of bodies in central areas throughout.

The result was a disjointed first half in which both teams had spells when they dominated possession and pinned their opponents back, but neither goalkeeper had a serious save to make. The second period was not that different, although Madrid did have a couple of good chances. Gareth Bale leaned back and curled too high when the ball ran invitingly to him 15 yards out, and Karim Benzema’s header drew a fine save from Oblak.

The pre-game buzz had this as a battle between each team’s two new attacking stars - Madrid’s new €100 million galactico Eden Hazard, and Atletico’s even more expensive teenager Joao Felix. Neither made much of an impression, and both were substituted before the end. England international Kieran Trippier dealt well with Hazard while also often getting forward dangerously, while Joao Felix was flattened early by Madrid captain Sergio Ramos and unable to influence proceedings afterwards.

“The athletes eat the artists,” was a succinct summation in local paper AS on Sunday morning.

The goalless draw should not have been a huge surprise, as this is the third straight La Liga season in which a derbi has finished 0-0. Not losing to Atletico has become an important matter of pride at the Bernabeu following a number of embarrassing results over recent years. While for Simeone a point against Madrid [or Barcelona] always seems to be enough.

“Neither us nor them took risks,” Oblak said bluntly on Movistar TV afterwards. “We were careful, nobody wanted to lose. The draw is a fair result. We didn’t play at our best, but when that happens you have to keep a clear head. La Liga is very long.”

Speaking at the post-game news conference Zidane confirmed that for him the most important thing on the night had been to stay solid and not concede chances.

“We deserved more than one point,” Zidane said. “But I must congratulate the players, we showed solidarity again, keeping another clean sheet. That is what wins you leagues. Above all we needed to be solid. We did not give up even one chance. And that is important. We lacked something more in attack, but we will improve in that. We must be happy as we are top, picking up points, playing well.”

Simeone claimed soon afterwards not to have been content with just a point at home to the neighbours, but his general demeanour suggested otherwise. The Argentine even threw in a veiled barb at Zidane’s tactics - claiming his team had gone out to play passing football, while their wealthier neighbours just came to defend and counter-attack.

Kieran Trippier helped to keep Real's attack quiet (Getty)

“They looked to strengthen their midfield, with Valverde in, not James or Modric,” Simeone said. “And then to play on counter with Hazard, Bale, Benzema. With Diego Costa, Joao and Vitolo we were looking to play between the lines. But both teams came up a bit short in what they were trying to do.”

Simeone was being just slightly disingenuous. Zidane did put on Modric and new centre-forward Luka Jovic in the second half, while El Cholo’s substitutions were more defensive. The home Wanda fans even whistled the replacement of Joao Felix with holding midfielder Marcos Llorente.

But the general point that neither coach’s plan came off fully was correct. Simeone’s latest attempt to evolve Atletico’s style of play and make them less direct is not really working so far. Their seven goals in seven La Liga games this season is the lowest of his time in charge. Costa never looked a threat on Saturday evening, with Atletico’s most influential player being holding midfielder Thomas Partey.

Madrid have also reacted to the horrorshow of their 0-3 Champions League group opener at Paris Saint Germain by prioritising defence. Since then they have kept three consecutive clean sheets for the first time in either of Zidane’s spells as coach. They passed 400 minutes of action without even allowing a shot on target - until Costa’s late header was easily saved by his former teammate Thibaut Courtois. But neither have they been creating too much at the other end despite all their big name attackers.

It was a game of few chances (Getty)

AS spoke on Sunday of the ‘Zidane’s Cholinizacion' - pointing out the former galactico appears to be following Simeone’s playbook in getting his team to eke out results the hard way. Seven points from their last three games have been achieved by scoring just three goals. Even Madrid’s talented galacticos like Bale and James Rodriguez have been showing their commitment to the cause with hard work off the ball.

While both Zidane and Simeone might therefore have been happy with the result going home on Saturday, there is also a feeling that their teams have been unable to take advantage of the absence of the La Liga’s most decisive player. Lionel Messi was again missing injured as Barca beat Getafe 2-0 elsewhere in the Spanish capital earlier on Saturday afternoon, with the goals coming from Luis Suarez and Junior Firpo.

Ernesto Valverde’s team were outplayed before Barca goalkeeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen’s superb assist for Suarez’s opener, but grew in confidence from there and controlled the game despite going down to 10 men late on when Clement Lenglet saw a second yellow.

“We needed to win,” said Valverde after his team’s first away victory since April. “It was a tough game, but we were solid from the start. If you want to win La Liga you must win games away from home. This will help bring some calm. Today was a difficult test for us.”

There is a feeling that each of the three title rivals have yet to really get going, and also that their general quality levels have all dipped. It looks very significant that Barca are just two points behind leaders Madrid, and one off Atletico, with Messi only having played 91 minutes across the first seven fixtures.

Still neither Atletico nor Madrid really went for the breakthrough on Saturday evening to try and take control of the title race. Soon after the final whistle AC/DC’s 'You Shook Me All Night Long' was playing over the Wanda loudspeakers - and there was a feeling leaving the stadium that both teams could have kept playing till Sunday morning without either scoring.