Madrid, February 5

Just a minute away from beating their city rivals for the second time in less than a month and taking a four-point lead of the La Liga, Real Madrid couldn’t hang on.

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Real Madrid extended their unbeaten streak to 26 matches across all tournaments, since a 1-3 league defeat at Atletico Madrid in September

Madrid’s improvised defence faltered at the end, and Atletico Madrid scored a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

Marcos Llorente scored with a header three minutes into added time after Brahim Diaz had put the hosts ahead in the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The late goal prevented Madrid from exploiting second-place Girona’s 0-0 draw with Real Sociedad on Saturday. Madrid lead Girona by two points before the teams meet next week.

“We played a very good match, we were in control,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We were unlucky to concede that goal in the end, but we lacked height in thse defence and we knew it.”

Ancelotti had a depleted defence because of injuries and had to improvise right-back Dani Carvajal as a central defender alongside Nacho Fernandez. — AP