Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid played out a 1-1 draw in an intense capital city derby. Sunday’s result was possible thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s 57th minute goal, cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo’s 53rd minute volley. With the draw, Atlético stayed in second, four points above Real.

After the match, Griezmann, Diego Simeone and Thomas Partey issued their thoughts on the match.

Antoine Griezmann

On the match:

“We wanted to win. After their goal, we had to raise our level and tempo and we scored the equalizer.

“Before the goal, we didn’t play well. We weren’t playing aggressively enough. When we started to press we saw a better Atlético.”

On his goal:

“Today’s my daughter’s birthday, so the goal is dedicated to her.”

On the upcoming matches:

“We’re thinking about our upcoming game on Thursday and the following on Sunday. Then, we’ll see where we are.”

Diego Simeone

On the match:

“I’m not happy because we wanted to win.

“They started better and we had a hard time linking play together, but we created danger and we responded immediately to their goal.

“After scoring the equalizer, we could have scored through Correa and Koke, but they also had chances to score as well. I leave with a sour taste.”

On the team’s improvement this spring:

“I want the club to keep improving and that’s why I’m staying because I think we can keep growing.

“I try to do everything possible so that everyone who grows the club stays.”

“We work to improve the team, and whenever the team improves, the club will improve.”

On jostling with two giant clubs in LaLiga:

“The goal is always to try to do the best that superpowers like Real Madrid and Barcelona will allow us. Teams like PSG and Juve have seen how difficult it is to face them. What we have done in this decade is tremendous, Atlético fans should be proud of how their team is competing.”

Thomas Partey

On the Vitolo offside call:

“It was the referee’s mistake. Things like this always seem to happen here and we have to be accustomed to it.”

On maintaining second place:

“There are still a lot of matches left. We’ll continue to do our work and try to get the points that remain available. We know that it’s not easy to stay in second, it’s not concrete yet.”