Diego Simeone's red-hot Atletico are one of the most in-form teams in Europe on an 11-game winning streak in all competitions and looking like a well-oiled machine with Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez and Rodrigo de Paul firing on all cylinders.
La Liga leaders Barcelona stumbled 1-0 at home against Leganes on Sunday as they suffered another blow in the Spanish title race.
Diego Simeone's side have been in fine form and continued their winning run across all competitions with a deserved home triumph, pulling provisionally level with league leaders Barcelona.
Real missed the chance to move above leaders Barcelona in LaLiga as they stay second on 37 points from 17 matches, one behind the Catalans who host Leganes on Sunday when Atletico, in third place on 35 from 16 games, welcome Getafe.
The 23-year-old was forced off with a muscle injury in their 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna at the Bernabeu earlier in November
"We changed the position of the forwards, with Mbappe outside and he did well, like Vinicius inside," said Ancelotti.
Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski's goals put the Catalans in a healthy position but Marc Casado's red card in the 82nd minute helped Celta start the fightback to snatch a point.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Friday he would ask his players if they can win without injured teenage winger Lamine Yamal.
Lewandowski's early disallowed strike led to furious debate over whether the Polish forward had been offside or not.
Despite concerns at both ends of the pitch, Carlo Ancelotti's side earned a convincing victory at the San Mames to kick off their title bid, with Rodrygo Goes opening the scoring
Real Madrid suffered a huge blow on the eve of the new La Liga season with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during training on Thursday.
LaLiga champions Barcelona have been provisionally cleared to compete in next season's Champions League, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Thursday, amid investigations into the Spanish club's involvement in a refereeing scandal.
Former Spain international David Silva announced his retirement on Thursday, days after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in pre-season training with his club Real Sociedad.
France's National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) has slammed Paris Saint-Germain after the Ligue 1 champions excluded Kylian Mbappe from their pre-season tour to Asia as a contract standoff between the forward and the club rumbles on.
Barcelona's friendly match against Juventus in San Francisco on Saturday has been cancelled after an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis among the Spanish team.
Barcelona has re-signed former academy player Oriol Romeu from Girona with the midfielder signing a three-year deal, the LaLiga champions said on Wednesday.
Real Madrid closed the 2022-23 financial year with a 11.8 million euro ($13.25 million) profit, the Spanish club said on Monday, around one million euros less than in the previous season despite a higher revenue.
Ilkay Gundogan has signed for Barcelona on a free transfer at the end of his Manchester City contract while Luka Modric will stay at Real Madrid for another season after renewing his deal until June 2024.
Spanish international Jose Luis Mato, known as Joselu, said Tuesday it was a "dream" come true to return to Real Madrid, 11 years after he left.
