Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists his side can still catch Barcelona in the title race despite falling 10 points behind the league leaders.
Real could not respond in kind to Barca’s 3-0 win over Leganes earlier in the day as they played out a goalless clash with Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano.
That draw – the first 0-0 league stalemate between the capital clubs in 12 years – means both Real and Atletico are now 10 points behind Barca after 12 rounds of the season, but Zidane has no intention of throwing in the towel.
The Frenchman told a press conference in quotes reported by AS:
‘It’s not insurmountable. I’m sure Barca are going to drop points. We have to continue doing our work and that’s all.
‘When you see that it’s 10 points, it’s a lot of points, but it’s going to change. I’m sure we will cut the gap.
‘Barca are not going to pick up points all the time and we have to be up there.’
Neither Real or Atletico found goalscoring chances easy to come by as defences came out on top in the first derby at the Rojiblancos’ new Metropolitano home.
Home forward Angel Correa missed arguably the best chance of the match in the third minute when he fired wide following a mistake by Marcelo, while Atletico substitute Kevin Gameiro saw a late effort headed off the line by Raphael Varane.
For defending champions Real, Toni Kroos hit the side-netting with a good first-half chance before Cristiano Ronaldo twice drew parries from Jan Oblak with free-kicks, although both saves were routine.
Zidane added: ‘Our game has been good today, we just couldn’t get a goal. I feel for the players, for the effort they put in, but we’re going to carry on.
‘With the game we played, we deserved more.’
Real played the second half without Sergio Ramos as the defender was left with a bloody nose after being kicked in the face by Lucas Hernandez as they challenged for the ball in the first half.
Zidane said of the Spain international’s injury:
‘He’s got a wound and I think he has a broken nose. He couldn’t continue. Now we’ll have see when how long he’s out for.’
Real are back in action on Tuesday when they play Apoel in the Champions League.