Julen pleased, Diego frustrated
Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois came back to haunt Atletico Madrid as two crunch saves denied Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa on Saturday in a goalless draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Courtois spent three seasons at Atletico but this was his first Madrid derby for Real. He made the most of it, saving when both Griezmann and Costa had only the Belgian to beat.
Gareth Bale did not emerge for the second period, substituted with a thigh injury, which will be a major concern for coach Julen Lopetegui.
Lopetegui's side move back level with Barcelona on points while Atletico sit just two behind.
"It's a pity because we wanted to win but we leave with a good result," Lopetegui said. "The goals will come, I don't have any doubts about that. We created a lot of chances."
About Bale, he said: "Gareth felt something in his adductor in the first half," Lopetegui added. "He came off as a precaution and will have tests tomorrow, so we will see what he actually has.
However, his counterpart Simeone was frustrated with VAR after Casemiro was not penalised for appearing to handle the ball in the penalty area.
Koke's cross in 31st minute was blocked by Casemiro, with the ball striking his arm. And despite VAR being available, the incident was not reviewed and Atletico were denied a chance to take the lead, leaving Simeone irritated.
"What do you want me to say," Simeone said in his post-match news conference. "There are four of them [officials] for VAR up there, four [officials] down [on the ground]. They can make mistakes, as they were all wrong.
"I guess they did not stop because they saw it in a normal play, because it's interpretable. They said it was involuntary, but what do you want me to say? The ball went towards the goal."
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