Madrid (AFP)

A goalless draw, again: after the 0-0 conceded in Barcelona on Wednesday, Real Madrid were again hooked 0-0 on Sunday evening for the 18th day of Liga by Bilbao, and remain second before the break, while the Atlético takes a breath of fresh air.

Should we be worried about the offensive scarcity of Real? Real Madrid failed to find a fault in the thick curtain of Athletic Bilbao on Sunday at the end of the 18th day of the Spanish championship.

The Madrilenians had the opportunities, but continually stumbled against the defense to five of the Basques, and their doorman Unai Simon. The Merengues struggled to find Karim Benzema in the area, and when the second best scorer in Liga finally had cartridges, he was not as efficient as usual.

Benzema had three clear chances to open the score from the head (30th, 37th), or the foot (31st) on this overflow that went along the goal line. Vinicius (12th), Kroos (18th), Nacho (58th), Jovic (86th) ... All tried, but each time, Unai Simon intervened.

"It's punctual, it's just this game," had swept Zidane after the 0-0 at Camp Nou where his players had failed to shake the nets.

An unusual shortage that almost cost the people of Madrid, surprised by the goal of Koldro (43rd) for Athletic, finally canceled for an offside position.

With this new draw, Real Madrid let Barça (winner of Alavés 4-1 on Saturday) escape at the top of the ranking with two steps ahead (39 pts), and goes on vacation on a flat.

- The Atlético gently climbs the slope -

Quite the opposite of Atlético, which, after a very gloomy autumn, gleaned its third consecutive victory in all competitions on Sunday on the field of Betis Seville (2-0), thus going up to 4th place.

The mixed performance of Thomas Lemar, holder completely transparent Sunday in Seville, will have indirectly changed the match: the French international came out in the 56th minute without a look for his coach, and was replaced by Angel Correa ... who opened the scoring on his first ball two minutes later (58th).

The Argentinian went up to the dry cleaners on Alex Moreno, then eliminated Joel Robles with a hook, before offering a decisive pass to Alvaro Morata, who signed the goal of victory over a pretty Madjer (heeling towards goal) at the 83rd.

A "significant, necessary" success according to Diego Simeone, the first away since September 25 in La Liga (2-0 in Mallorca), which does a lot of good for the Colchoneros: threatened with expulsion of the qualifying places for the European competitions three weeks ago after the setback against Barça at the Wanda-Metropolitano stadium (1-0), the men of Diego Simeone, also on an ejection seat three days ago, recovered to ensure their presence in the top 4 before the break.

Their match against Betis, modest 13th provisional in the Spanish championship, is nothing exceptional. But the people of Madrid have confirmed that they are recovering all their offensive effectiveness, after having remained very silent against goal since mid-November.

Nabil Fékir, ex-attacking midfielder from Lyon, who arrived in Seville last summer, could have turned the tide, tackling defensive tasks and multiplying dribbling (10th, 24th), dangerous centers (12th) and strikes in first period, like this shot wound in the surface, repulsed by a defender (26th).

The goal of Marc Bartra, in additional time (90th + 3), will arrive too late: the Betis gets bogged down to finish 2019, and the red and white offer a nice gift to their supporters before the Christmas break: goals, victory, and a rise to 4th place, five lengths from Real.

© 2019 AFP