Madrid (AFP)

No winner in the Madrid derby: Atletico and Real Madrid were neutralized (0-0) on Saturday for the seventh day of the Spanish Championship, allowing FC Barcelona, ​​who won away at Getafe ( 2-0), to come back to two points from the merengue leader.

At the Metropolitano stadium, the two rivals of the capital have fought an intense and poor fight on occasions, gladly content with this sharing of points that freezes their positions on the podium and maintains their momentum before the Champions League next week.

Real Zinedine Zidane (1st, 15 pts) is still alone in front of the outstanding promoted Granada (2nd, 14 pts), winner of 1-0 Leganes, and Atlético (3rd, 14 pts).

As for Barça (4th, 13 pts), which won without Lionel Messi and thanks to Luis Suarez (41st) and Junior Firpo (49th), he finally won away from Camp Nou, a first since April, and is repositioned at the foot of the provisional podium, in the wake of his opponents Madrid.

They have not delivered the most attractive match of the season but between two teams in reconstruction and in search of confidence, the main thing was probably not to lose. Hence a deluge of mistakes, approximations and muscular duels.

- Chilly -

Difficult, under these conditions, to produce the game, like the Portuguese prodigy Joao Felix (19 years), mowed by captain Merengue Sergio Ramos after inflicting a small bridge (5th).

Joao Félix also had two of the best chances of the match but he crossed his strikes too much after a counter-attack (8th) and from the entrance to the surface (39th). And his coach Diego Simeone, with reluctance, replaced him 20 minutes from the end by a defensive midfielder to preserve the score ...

Real side, we saw the Belgian Eden Hazard: the flagship rookie of the offseason began to show what the "White House" has spent more than 100 million EUR to recruit, as on the déboulé concluded by a center burning (23rd) or his multiple attempts to dribble.

However, it was not enough to disrupt Atlético's strong defense, only worried when Frenchman Karim Benzema, co-top scorer in Liga (5 goals), fired a uncrossed header that was beautifully saved by Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (75).

In short, this draw has something to satisfy everyone ... and in particular Barça, who has moved closer to the standings by chasing the doubts born of his sad defeat in Granada last weekend (2-0).

- Lenglet excluded, Dembélé injured -

Without Lionel Messi injured, the Catalans dominated Getafe thanks to their goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, determining in front of his cage (21st) and improbable decisive passer of a long opening towards Suarez, scorer of a nice lob (41st ). Then, an opportunist goal from side Junior Firpo, his first with Barça (49th), concluded the deal.

This proves that Barcelona relaunched to travel after conceding a draw and two defeats in three trips in La Liga ...

"For me, this match was fundamental to eliminate the feeling of not being able to win on the outside," said coach Ernesto Valverde. "When we do block, we are a strong team."

Only downside, the French international defender Clement Lenglet was excluded late in the game for a second yellow card (81), which will deprive him of the shock against Sevilla, his former team, next weekend.

And besides the absence of Messi injury (stretching a thigh) club blaugrana recorded the last minute package of the French winger Ousmane Dembélé, who relapsed with a new muscle problem in the left thigh. Not ideal before facing Inter Milan Wednesday in C1 ...

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