Well, we drew out to a 1-1 draw (I was extremely disappointed), but I don't really mind because it's the beginning of a new season, and it'll take some time to hit our stride. My takeaways are as follows...

1. Ronaldo

He was invisible for the first 40 minutes out on the left wing. It seemed like Ancelotti's plan was to allow the Atletico defenders to dedicate bodies to marking Ronaldo, and give the ball more to Bale whenever Kroos or Modric got a hold of it. It didn't work out as well because Atletico covered up the space where Bale likes to sprint to, and he was unable to create and chances to cross or score. Ronaldo then switched wings with Bale at around 40 minutes, and immediately flashed a header wide from Bale's cross. I think that putting Ronaldo on the right against Siqueira and leaving Bale to deal with Juanfran is much better. However, Ronaldo got injured, and was removed for James.

2. Ramos vs. Mandzukic

Two idiots paired up against each other. Once more, I repeat that putting Ramos and Pepe together is disastrous. It has to be either Ramos and Varane, or Pepe and Varane. Ramos loses his head when he plays with Pepe. He could've easily been sent off yesterday for punching Mandzukic on the chin. He made a defensive error too from a mis-control from Pepe's erratic pass that led to Mandzukic having a shot on Iker. Horrible night from Ramos in general.

Mandzukic seemed to be instructed to piss off Ramos as much as he could, and could've gotten sent off himself for a handball. He was making the most of every contact, and him and Ramos basically tried to get each other sent off for the whole 90 minutes. Mandzukic didn't play like a striker, and Ramos didn't play like a defender.

3. Navas for Iker

Iker has been decent last night. He performed when called upon, but the one moment that bothered me most was when he comes out for crosses. Goddammit Iker, you're a f*cking tiny goalkeeper. You're not Courtois or Neuer to be able to jump over defenders and fist the ball out. He almost cost us a goal, but Mandzukic hit the shot right into Iker's gloves, and Marcelo and Pepe immediately went on the goal line to cover for Casillas. I want Navas to play next time. It's not that Casillas has done bad, but his irrational thinking when coming out for crosses annoys me to the limit. He is excellent at reflexes and diving, but horrid at coming out to punch crosses.

4. James and Kroos

James was off-touch at first, but his goal gave him massive amounts of confidence. He started laying off incredibly accurate crosses, and had a couple flashes at goal too. Kroos was excellent on the night, but could've had a goal from that Bale free-kick. I don't blame him because Bale's shot deflected off Moya so fast that Kroos was off-balance when reacting to the rebound. However, he was involved in the build-up to James' goal, so I'm happy with his performance.

5. di Maria required

With Kroos and Modric both in the team, we had two midfielders who liked to dominate the middle of the park, but neither of which could make direct runs at the opposition's defense and carve out a chance. di Maria made an immediate impact, and should play alongside either Kroos or Modric, but not both. di Maria is a must, Kroos/Modric should be alongside him, with Alonso/Illarra/Khedira as the DM. Otherwise, we might as well keep 70% possession and draw at home.

6. Atletico goal

That was bullsh*t defending. How did that ball get past Marcelo, Pepe, and Ramos? Absolutely ridiculous. You can't switch off like that in the final minutes. That should've been a 1-0 win, but stupid defending cost us the match.

7. Atletico dirtier than ever

The amount of calls that they got against them is ridiculous. They had 5 yellow cards to our 2, and almost double the amount of fouls we had. They committed a foul once every 4 minutes (basically). Hacking down Kroos, Ronaldo, and Bale every time we were about to get ready for a cross or shot, or even lay off a key pass. Disgusts me because even Pepe was completely foul-free that match. Ramos was the only player on our team playing dirty (and only against Mandzukic too). Their entire team was full of foul play, and it reflects Simeone's principles perfectly (vs. Beckham anyone?).

8. Sh*tty ref

Did decent for a while, but he had poor decisions.

1. Missed Ramos punch
2. Didn't give Mandzukic second yellow for handball
3. Completely missed Suarez handball to stop goal. 100% red and penalty
4. Called back a free-kick to book Garcia after Ramos had already shot the ball and it went out of play
5. Ignored plenty of fouls in the final 10 minutes from Atletico
6. Blew the final whistle while Kroos had the ball just outside the 18 yard box

Garbage referee

9. Carvajal

Excellent on the night. Was marauding up and down the pitch, causing disaster on Atletico's left-hand side, and some excellent interceptions and tackling. He's turning out to be quite the talent. Better than Azpilicueta already, IMO.

Sell Di Maria, sell Di Maria, seeeeell Diiii Mariiiiia !!! :D
Mandzukic is the weakest link in ×Atleti squad, dont make the runs, take the game easily, missed the few chances he got.
Atleti were far better without him.

That's true. He was only present that night to annoy Ramos into a red card (which he almost did if not for poor refereeing). I want to see how Jimenez turns out for Atletico.

Real Madrid are crazy to sell Di Maria, please sell him...

Thanks for the awesome read spot on +1

I just want to say Carvajal is a beast!! he was so excellent yesterday

Di Maria i love this guy please do not let him go we need him and we need him to start vs such heavy compact team as we need to free Ronaldo and Bale Benzema.

Ramos needs to calm the F down please why is he always pissed, he should try to get a shakira :D

James needs to adapt i wish he would do it in the first 10min he got but that's asking to much even for a professional.

The goal we got was so sloppy i actually knew this would happen and this is going to make them far more relaxed and i think they will seek to score at home and play more open and we will need to defend even better and exploit on the counter.

Im sorry to tell you that Knowing Simeone, they will close spaces and wait for a mistake to go in counter, dont expect to have more space, pray that Madrid score first and fast.

Damn, great analysis Dynastian, spot on. How well do think James will do next season with this boost of confidence in himself?

"pray that Madrid score first and fast."

Damn right. That's the only way to beat this stubborn Atletico team.

@Rama

Depends on his positioning.

James played as a winger in this game. We never play with wingers like him. We play with physical wingers with Olympic level sprinting (Ronaldo, Bale, Jese). James is not fast, and neither is he very physical (even Jese can shake off defenders with ease). His goal today came because he went into the position where he excels: right behind Benzema. He snuck behind Benz right when Kroos laid the ball off to Carvajal, and after Benzema's shot got blocked, he pounced on the ball and shot it through a pair of legs and to the back of the net. If James is allowed to play in AM, then he will excel. But that will throw balance out of the team. We will have 2 midfielders then, and one will have to be Alonso. Therefore, two of the remaining three midfielders will have to settle for a lot of bench time (Modric, Kroos, di Maria). Knowing how good those three are, we cannot allow that. We will have to teach James how to play as a central midfielder.

PS. Don't forget that after James, Modric, Kroos, di Maria, and Alonso...... we still have Isco, Illarra, and Khedira in those positions. Some people will have to be sold. Not all of them will find playing time at Madrid.

Excellent post and analyst @dyn. I have nothing else to add

Ancelotti has confirmed that both di Maria and Khedira have rejected new contract negotiation offers. di Maria has asked to leave this summer, Khedira has not yet handed in a transfer request but his agent is keen to help him move to either Arsenal, Bayern, or Chelsea.

If Khedira signs for us it would mark the sale of either Mikel or Ramires. Maybe even both. :/

@Ven

I've heard that the only thing stopping Mourinho from signing Khedira is the fact that he believes Sami is interested in Arsenal, when in truth, he does not wish to join Arsenal. He's stated before he has faith in Jose, and prefers to work under him.

@dynastian98

You really do not want to put blame on Casillas for equalizer . I say #Navas for number 1 spot . Score against Fiorentina does not do justice to performance he displayed .

@Marcus

I find it difficult to blame Casillas for Garcia's goal. There were too many bodies blocking him. You seem desperate to push all the defensive blame on Casillas to justify Mourinho's preference of Adan and Lopez over Iker.

@dynastian98

You know me , it is hard to connivence me . Just like you are desperate to defend him , but he keeps letting you down . Defense and Casillas were at fault in IMO .

@tikitaka mandzukic said he will have another talk with Diego simeone before the season starts so that will probably help. Anyway he just has to get used to the squad which might take a month or so

@Marcus i have to agree with Dynast here, i am a big fan of Navas but this sort of corners Gk has nothing to do else to be lucky to be on the trajectory, it was a short corner so no GK would have got an interception and the ball went quickly to Garcia foot who did the right gesture...
I would agree with you if it was a long corner.

@Liomessi Yes he surely need time to adapt and will be very helpful in small games but in big games, Atletico players used to give leave their blood on the pitch last year and i dont know if he will be ready to do the runs or the efforts Costa did last year or what Raul Garcia is able to do.
Its up to him at the end, Simeone needs a gladiator like was Costa or Drogba at his prime, in la liga if you loose points early in the season, you have almost no hope to finish in the top 2.
I would use Mandzukic against small opositions in the start, so his adaptation wont cost his team crucial points or a trophy like this one, and then makes him more involved in bigger games if he deserves it.

Mario Mandzukic !!! He made me STFU quickly :) good goal and nice effort....

@Dynast: what were the reviews for Madrid players today? I didn't get to see the game, so I am eager to see what you say.

P.S. letting diMaria leave will be a huge mistake.

@Ashwin

I didn't get to see the game either. I was at work today. :(

I heard that we had a few good penalty calls rejected, and Ancelotti's substitutions were crap. Apparently James and Kroos were both doing excellent, but were both subbed off. Benzema, Bale, and Alonso were crap, but all stayed on. Most Madrid fans seem to be blaming this one on Ancelotti.

Anyways, it's almost impossible to win at the Calderon nowadays. That place is the football equivalence to Hell, and I'm not exaggerating here. I wouldn't be surprised if they go undefeated at home this season. They had only lost once at home last season too (against Real Madrid, 2-0. Both goals were deserved penalties, converted by Ronaldo).