Playing at Santiago Bernabeu with Atletico Madrid down to ten men following the sending off of Angel Correa, Real Madrid fans surely must have been hoping for all three points in the derby. And yet, it took a late equaliser from substitute Alvaro, just to take something out of this match, as Los Blancos could only manage a 1-1 draw.
It is safe to say that that is a big blow to the title hopes of Real Madrid. If Barcelona win against Almeria, they will go 10 points clear at the top of the table with 15 La Liga games left to be played.
While that would not be an impossible lead to overturn, it would certainly be pretty close to it. Especially when you consider that till now this season, Barcelona have only dropped seven points.
Yet, Carlo Ancelotti is not ready to give up on the title race just yet, even though it feels like he knows that his team have a mountain to climb. As reported by MARCA, when asked about La Liga, the Real Madrid manager said:
"“It’s more complicated but it’s not a goodbye, we have to fight until the end and see what happens.”"
Ancelotti makes La Liga claim after Real Madrid draw against Atletico
Coming out of the superb 5-2 win vs Liverpool, hopes were high that Real Madrid would find their best form and go on a good run of form. But unfortunately, they have stumbled on the first hurdle coming out of that match and now, the La Liga title race might be a lost cause for all intents and purposes.
Of course, it just feels a bit too early to give up, with 15 more league games left to be played. But at the same time, it is hard to see Barcelona dropping too many points between now and the end of the league campaign, unless something unexpected happens.
Thus, all things considered, the best step to take forward from here might be to put the majority of the focus on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.