Gareth Bale will never forget his Real Madrid home debut, unfortunately neither will Atletico Madrid supporters who saw their team win a league derby for the first time in 14 years.
There was a Welshman on the bench the last time Atletico Madrid beat Real in the league with John Toshack in charge in 1999. On Saturday night there was a Welshman on the bench again as Bale started as a substitute.

Real Madrid had gone 23 league derbies unbeaten since that defeat – a 3-1 loss in which Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored and youngsters Samuel Eto’o and Iker Casillas were on the bench for Real.

Atletico beat Real in last May’s Cup Final with Jose Mourinho and Ronlado sent off. Last night Ronaldo was below par as Diego Simone got one over Carlo Ancelotti.

Bale brought pace and power to a flat Real Madrid side but the big spenders were a team without a plan reliant on individual sparks of brilliance that never came. Koke hit the bar with seven minutes left as Atletico Madrid came close to making it two.

Bale kicked the ball out of Courtois's hands at the death but the ball went out of play as Real lost their first home game of the season leaving Ancelotti under-pressure having fallen five points off the lead.

The biggest cheer from the home fans came when Bale warmed up at half time after a poor first half.

At first he found very little space with Atletico Madrid doubling up full-back Felipe Luis and Koke every time he received the ball. He drifted inside to occupy the area of the pitch from where he scored against Villarreal but Madrid were still in chaos.

Diego Costa, who had put Atletico one-up in the first half, then missed a chance to make it two and from the breakaway Modric released Bale and he surged at the heart of the Atletico defence tumbling over Felipe Luis on the edge of the area.

Ronaldo took the resulting free-kick but blasted it high over Courtois’s bar. It was at least a sign of what Bale could do if he had the chance to run at the visitors’ defence.

Diego Costa, who had put Atletico one-up in the first half, then missed a chance to make it two and from the breakaway Modric released Bale and he surged at the heart of the Atletico defence tumbling over Felipe Luis on the edge of the area.

Ronaldo took the resulting free-kick but blasted it high over Courtois’s bar. It was at least a sign of what Bale could do if he had the chance to run at the visitors’ defence.

He then cut in from the right and shot low at Courtois after receiving Isco’s pass. And he then raced away on another counter-attack only to find that when the move broke down his team-mates were slow to move up the field to take the throw.

Atletico Madrid had taken the lead on 11 minutes when Di Maria lost possession inside his own half under pressure from Felipe Luis. The loose ball ran to Koke who played in Diego Costa behind Arebeloa and the league’s top scorer stroked the ball into the far corner past Diego Lopez for hjs eighth goal of the season.

Pepe immediately sliced the ball out for a corner as Real Madrid rocked back on their heels in defence and Carlo Ancelotti cursed inside the technical area. At the other end the home side had still not had a shot.

When that first shot came it was from Ronaldo and went hopelessly high and wide.

On 22 minutes came Real’s first chance when Benzema’s header from Di Maria’s cross was turned away for a corner by Thibaut Courtois.

It was the same Di Maria-Benzema combination again five minutes later but this time the Frenchman’s header went wide.

Atletico Madrid should then have doubled their lead when Koke’s corner was headed wide by Tiago. The midfielder had a free-header after Isco failed to track his run.

With the Bernabeu now restlessly whistling the sluggish performance tempers flared on the pitch. Arbeloa trod on Diego Costa and Fabio Coentrao went in late on Gabi.

Ramos found Ronaldo but the Portuguese, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, misplaced his pass to Isco.

Diego Costa then teed up Arda Turan - another run that had not been tracked by Madrid – but the Turk failed to find the target.

Arda then became the first to pick up a yellow card for a late challenge and Coentrao followed him into the book for hand ball.

Atletico Madrid had another chance to double their lead just before the break. Diego Lopez saved Gabi’s header from a corner and appeared to stamp on Diego Costa as the Atletico Madrid forward scrambled for the rebound.

It was an ill-tempered affair with Real Madrid attempting to go to war with their neighbours – not something you would expect them to need to do having spent around 170m more than them during the summer.

More than half that pre-season spending was still on the bench but as the half-time. That changed for the second period but although Bale and Modric improved the performance they could not change the scoreline.