In the final minute of the 279th Madrid derby, the fans in the south end of the Santiago Bernabéu began to belt out their version of Bad
moon Rising, the opening bar asking Atlético how they were feeling. High in the opposite corner, where just a hundred away supporters sat in silence, all too aware that they faced a long wait in the cold before they began the walk home, the answer was: pretty flat. Their team had not played badly but an early goal in either half, first from Karim Benzema then from Marco Asensio, was enough to defeat them again. Worse, they knew it was probably enough for the defence of their league title to be derailed in December.
Madrid knew that too, the embraces at the end expressing how big a step this was. Victory leaves them eight points clear of Sevilla at the top, nine above Real Betis, and 13 over Atlético and Real Sociedad. In case you are wondering, it leaves them 18 points above
Barcelona, who have other problems to worry about. There is no league for them. The question is whether there is a league for anyone else; although Sevilla and Atlético have a game in hand, the answer is probably not.