Atlético Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday, 20 September 2026, climbing above their city rivals into second place in La Liga after Dean Huijsen’s second-half red card tilted a fractious derby.
Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty in the 53rd minute and Jonathan David added a second six minutes later. Antonio Rüdiger headed a late consolation for José Mourinho’s side, but Atlético held on in front of 70,514 spectators.
How the derby turned
The first half was tense and largely scoreless. Real Madrid argued for a red card when Cristian Romero was involved in a challenge on Jude Bellingham; after a VAR review Romero was shown a yellow, BBC Sport and Reuters reported.
Early in the second half Huijsen pulled down Giuliano Simeone inside the area. The referee awarded a penalty and, following a VAR check, sent Huijsen off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Grimaldo beat Thibaut Courtois from the spot with a low finish.
David then finished Simeone’s low cross for his third La Liga goal in as many appearances, according to BBC Sport and ESPN. Atlético later introduced Julián Álvarez from the bench. Rüdiger’s 89th-minute header from Bernardo Silva’s free-kick made it 2-1, but Atlético managed the closing stages through six minutes of stoppage time.
Match statistics published via BBC Sport showed Atlético with 18 shots to Real Madrid’s eight and 60.9% possession. LaLiga’s official match centre recorded the same 2-1 scoreline, Huijsen’s red card, and the goals by Grimaldo, David and Rüdiger.
Standings and context
The result left Atlético on 16 points in second, one above Real Madrid on 15 and five behind unbeaten leaders Barcelona, who won 3-1 at Sevilla on Saturday. Real Betis’ later draw also left Madrid fourth on the table, BBC Sport’s updated standings showed.
It was Diego Simeone’s first Madrid derby win over Mourinho. Mourinho had won all six of his previous La Liga meetings with Atlético during his first spell at Real Madrid, BBC Sport noted. Real have now lost two of seven league games since Mourinho’s return this summer and trail Barcelona by six points heading into the international break.