A local derby is no ordinary game, and especially not when both teams are desperate for a win to catch up with La Liga leaders Barcelona. Zidane's men visited the Wanda Metropolitano stadium for the first time, with the atmosphere building up until the game finally got underway and all the tensions and pre-match jitters were left in the dressing room.
There was a great intensity and pace to the game from the start with both teams pressing high up on the pitch. After three minutes, Raphael Varane needlessly gave the ball straight to Correa in the area and the Argentine somehow missed a superb chance to take the lead by dinking the ball wide with only Kiko Casilla to beat.
Correa lacked composure to bury the gilt-edged chance so early on, and he would come to rue missing one of the clearest opportunities of the evening. The frantic nature of the game also favoured the visitors who, after a somewhat sluggish start, began to pose a threat on the counter-attack.
Flashes of brilliance from Isco or surging runs by Correa were at times overshadowed by incidents shrouded in controversy, and referee Fernandez Borbalan was made to get his book out as tempers began to boil over. Correa somehow escaped punishment when he needlessly lashed the ball off Benzema's head and then Carvajal and Savic saw yellow for tackles that could have seen them dismissed.
Real Madrid finally settled on the ball and pinned Atletico inside their own half, but it wasn't until after the half-hour mark that the reigning Spanish champions had an effort on goal. Kroos played a fantastic one-two and the German advanced into the area before chipping over Oblak and the ball crept inches wide.
Sergio Ramos was replaced by Nacho at the break after Lucas booted the Real captain in the face in an attempt to intercept Casemiro's header back across goal, and neither side found the reward to their efforts in an encounter that, nevertheless, remained entertaining and absorbing throughout.
As time went by and with tensions flying high, the referee's job became increasingly arduous. Penalty claims in both areas, strong challenges in midfield and an endless stream of protests made up the bulk of the second half, in which Real Madrid appeared to have more to lose as they battled forward with a certain urgency that the hosts lacked. Gameiro also came close in the dying moments when his chip over Casilla was cleared off the line by Varane.
No winner emerged from Zidane and Simeone's tactical battle, after an industrious yet unavailing display which only allowed the points to be shared in the Spanish capital. The fixture had both sets of fans on the edge of their seat right up until the full-time whistle was blown, leaving both teams 10 points adrift of Barcelona. The only winners at the Wanda Metropolitano.