Real Madrid were unable to close the gap on LALIGA leaders FC Barcelona following a 1-1 draw against cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday evening.
Kylian Mbappe was a major absentee for Madrid through injury and was replaced by Luka Modric while Dani Carvajal came in for Lucas Vazquez.
Julian Alvarez looked to take flight on nine minutes from a ball in the channels by Alexander Sorloth, but Thibaut Courtois dropped down and smothered the Argentine.
Los Blancos' didn't lose focus and continued the strong start, with the evergreen Modric enjoying lots of possession accompanied by Federico Valverde but had the opposite number Jan Oblak unfazed.
Oblak was put to work by the Uruguayan midfielder who took a pass in his stride and managed to get a shot in which the former tipped for a corner-kick.
Real enjoyed a strong end to the first half with Jude Bellingham getting on the end of a layoff from Rodrygo and unleashed a shot, but Oblak got down to make a stop.
Following a tense first spell, Atleti manager Diego Simeone decided to make a change and brought in Koke for Nahuel Molina, with Los Blancos unchanged.
Los Blancos could've gone in front minutes in the second period from a short-corner by Modric to Rodyrgo, but the Brazilians unfortunately volleyed over the top.
The reigning champions eventually took the lead midway in the second half when Eder Militao retrieved a floated ball to the back-post by Vinicius Junior and volleyed in, giving Oblak no chance.
Tampers boiled over which forced the match to stop for ten minutes and players leaving the field of play due to spectator mis-behaviour.
When the game resumed after 15 minutes, Courtois did have work to do in the final stages where he displayed remarkable reflexes to guide a rasping effort from Rodrigo De Paul behind.
Atleti pulled level five minutes in added time after Angel Correa capitalised on a through pass and burst clear to round Courtois for an easy finish with the goal awarded after going for a review.
There were further drama though as the host saw Marcos Llorente receive his marching orders for an indiscretion and all square it finished.