El Derbi Madrileno, the Madrid derby…
It was one of the fiercest derby football games in the world.
The crushing weight of history was behind every match, every clash.
The two clubs met in Lisbon for the 2014 UEFA Champions League final, making it the first time two clubs from the same city played in the final.
After facing off a second time in the 2016 UEFA Champions League final in Milan, with Real Madrid winning as they had two years earlier, they also met in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup, again the first time two clubs from the same city met in that event; and unlike the first two clashes, it was won by Atletico.
The Madrid derby was here again, and after 90 minutes of throwing punches at each other, fulltime was over.
The scoreboard glowed 2–2. Ninety minutes gone, nothing settled. The Riyadh night pressed heavy over King Fahd Stadium.
Players hunched with hands on their knees. Muscles screamed, and lungs heaved as extra time loomed, cruel and merciless.
