Atletico Madrid 5-2 Real Madrid, Spanish La Liga: Xabi Alonso's Perfect Start Ends With Heavy Derby Defeat

Julian Alvarez scored twice as Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat Real Madrid 5-2 in a LaLiga thriller at the Estadio Metropolitano.

Alvarez scored twice in the space of 12 second-half minutes on Saturday, as Atletico snapped Xabi Alonso's winning start to life with Los Blancos.

The hosts went ahead in the 14th minute as Robin Le Normand rose above Aurelien Tchouameni to meet Giuliano Simeone's cross and score with a fine header.

Los Blancos soon dragged themselves level, though, as Arda Guder threaded a brilliant pass into the path of Kylian Mbappe, who coolly finished.

Guler then gave the visitors the lead after arriving late to guide a half-volley past Jan Oblak, following excellent work from Vinicius Junior.

Atletico thought they were back on level terms before the break but Clement Lenglet's effort from a corner was disallowed, as the defender was deemed to have handled it.

However, they did equalise on the stroke of half-time through Alexander Sorloth's header, which left Thibaut Courtois stranded in the Real goal.

Then, it was time for the Alvarez show.

Diego Simeone's team were awarded a penalty as Nicolas Gonzalez was caught in the face by a high boot from Guler, with Alvarez duly putting away the spot-kick.

The Argentina international then sent a fabulous free-kick beyond Courtois in the 63rd minute, and as Madrid pressed for a way back into the contest, they were caught cold on the counter as Antoine Griezmann slotted home in injury time.

Data Debrief: Alvarez's dead-ball prowess decisive 

Atleti had endured a slow start to the campaign, but this was certainly their best performance of 2025-26 to date. 

They were good value for the three points after registering 2.31 expected goals (xG) to their visitors' figure of 0.58, also edging the shot count by 13 to six.

Alvarez, who scored a hat-trick in their midweek win over Rayo Vallecano, led the way with a couple of dead-ball efforts.

He became just the second Atletico player to score a penalty and a direct free-kick goal in a single LaLiga match this century, after Luis Suarez in January 2021 against Cadiz.

It meant Alonso failed to follow in the footsteps of Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who was the last Madrid boss to win his first seven games at the helm in LaLiga, in 2005.