Winger Lino and forward Alvarez were a constant menace up and down the left channel, often exposing the deficiencies of Lucas Vazquez and Tchouameni who got the start in a depleted Real defence without their top four defenders due to injuries.
In the 25th minute, Atletico's players complained forcefully to the referee over a studs-up challenge on Pablo Barrios by Dani Ceballos, asking for a straight red. But Cesar Soto Grado gave only a yellow.
Five minutes later, Atletico had their complaints heard when Tchouameni left a foot in on Lino as the ball came into the box in a quick counter-attack. At first, the referee did not spot the foul but after he was called to review the play in the VAR booth, he pointed to the penalty spot.
Cold-blooded Alvarez held his nerve under deafening booing from the sold-out Santiago Bernabeu crowd to brazenly chip his penalty down the middle as Thibaut Courtois dived low.
Lino and Alvarez wasted golden opportunities that should have given the visitors a more comfortable lead and they paid a heavy price as Real came back livelier after the break, with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo impressing in the channels.
It took them five minutes to find the equaliser when Rodrygo ran past two opponents on the right wing and crossed to Jude Bellingham who sliced his first touch strike from close-range. Gimenez managed to block the rebound which fell to Mbappe, who fired home the loose ball.
Real went all out for the three points but ran into Oblak, who denied close-range efforts by Vinicius, Rodrygo, Mbappe and Bellingham, who also had a strike off the crossbar, to secure Atletico's point.
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