Defences dominate as Madrid derby ends goalless
Barcelona is now 10 points clear of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid after the city rivals played out a drab goalless draw on Sunday (AEDT).
Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid lost further ground on LaLiga leader Barcelona this weekend after a lifeless 0-0 draw in the first derby to be played at the new Wanda Metropolitano.
Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Leganes earlier in the day and the subsequent derby stalemate means the Madrid sides are now 10 points behind Ernesto Valverde's high-flying Catalan side.
The two teams, which sit fourth and third respectively, are also three points adrift of second-placed Valencia, which will travel to Espanyol in its game in hand on Monday (AEDT).
Diego Simeone and Zinedine Zidane's sides have both fallen short of expectations so far this campaign and failure to win such a high-profile game will increase the strain on the two head coaches.
The best opportunity of the game came in just the third minute when Angel Correa clipped a shot wide after inadvertently being played in by Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane.
Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to make any significant inroads against Atletico's obdurate defence, which means the star forwards have now scored just two goals between them in a combined 16 league appearances this season.
Atletico and Real Madrid know they must register wins against Levante and Malaga respectively next weekend if they are to get their stuttering league seasons back on track stand any chance of closing the significant gap to Barca.
