EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Preseason matches, even between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, are of a different nature. Between experimentation and creating plans for the upcoming season, teams can be at different stages of preparation when they meet for friendlies.
Hardly anywhere was that more evident than New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Friday, where Atlético beat its rival 7-3.
“Atlético came strong, ready for a derby game,” Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said following the match. “We were still in preseason mode and that’s what got us.”
In the first Madrid derby to be played outside of Europe, Atlético got to a quick start after Diego Costa scored just 44 seconds into the International Champions Cup match. By halftime, the team was up 5-0 and Costa completed a hat trick by scoring a penalty right before the break.
Atlético looked likely to score with almost every chance it had in the first half, and truly made its dominance count.
Miss any of @atletienglish’s five first-half goals against @realmadriden?
We got you covered with this nice compilation: pic.twitter.com/AkPVM1UBbJ
— House of Soccer (@houseofsoccerfc) July 27, 2019
Real Madrid fared much better in the second half, converting their chances after Atlético scored a sixth goal. The announced crowd of 57,714 were entertained further when a fight broke out in the 65th minute, resulting in a yellow card for Atletico’s Saúl Ñíguez and a red card for Costa and Real’s Dani Carvajal.
The competitive spirit was obvious, particularly from the match’s eventual winner. During a prematch press conference, Ñíguez had expressed Atlético’s intent to bring such intensity.
“Although it is a friendly match, it’s a derby,” he said. “It is always special. It’s the first that is played outside Europe, and it makes us very excited to compete. The really important thing is to prepare for the first official match, but we are going to play as if it were an official match, as if it were a final, because every time you wear the shirt of Atlético de Madrid it means to give everything.”
Atlético’s record signing João Félix enjoyed an impressive night, scoring his first goal for the team and picking up two assists before being substituted off in the 69th minute. The 19-year-old looks poised to become one of the sport’s stars in the upcoming European season. Manager Diego Simeone noted his versatility following the match. As a result, the player’s exact role on the team remains one of his preseason tasks.
“He’s a very, very talented player,” Simeone said. “We know that he can play in many different positions, so working with him in different positions is going to help us.”
While Félix made a star entrance, another player may be in the process of making an exit. For more than a year, Gareth Bale’s Real Madrid departure has looked like more and more of an inevitability. The story has followed Real throughout its preseason tour of the United States, and hours before the match, it was widely reported that Bale could head to Chinese side Jiangsu Suning.
If so, Bale possibly played his final match for Real Madrid on Friday. His 28-minute substitute appearance was nondescript and came without the fanfare of a competitive match or an official goodbye, ending on the opposite end of the spectrum of his celebrated 2013 arrival.
Zidane could not confirm the reports or his exit following the match, saying, “We don’t know that yet. He’s still with us, so that’s all we’re thinking about.”
The match marked the end of Real Madrid’s preseason in the U.S., but Atlético now heads to Orlando to face the MLS All-Star team Wednesday at Exploria Stadium.