Atletico Madrid loss offers Barcelona probability to go high in Spain

Needing a win to remain answerable for the Spanish league, Atletico Madrid stumbled once more on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao, giving Barcelona an opportunity to take over the lead.
Not even the return of Luis Suarez and Joao Felix was sufficient for Diego Simeone’s crew, which might drop to second on Thursday when Barcelona performs eighth-place Granada at dwelling.
Barcelona put strain on Atletico by coming from behind to win 2-1 at Villarreal earlier Sunday, getting inside two factors of the lead with a recreation in hand. Antoine Griezmann scored each objectives for the Catalan membership.
Atletico will go to Barcelona in two rounds’ time.
“We did all we could,” Atletico captain Koke Resurreccion mentioned. “We will keep fighting until the end. We have five matches left and we know that we can win them.”

Defending champion Real Madrid was held 0-0 towards Real Betis on Saturday but in addition stays in competition. It is in second place, stage on factors with Barcelona and two behind Atletico. Also nonetheless within the title race is Sevilla, which defeated Granada 2-1 to remain solely three factors off the lead.
Atletico had gained two straight to stay on the high, but it surely couldn’t get well after conceding early at Athletic’s San Mames Stadium. Alex Berenguer opened the scoring for the hosts within the eighth minute.
Atletico equalized with a header by Stefan Savic off a nook kick within the 77th, however Inigo Martinez’s header within the 86th sealed the victory for Tenth-place Athletic, which hadn’t gained in seven consecutive matches in all competitions. One of its setbacks was dropping towards Barcelona within the Copa del Rey remaining.
Suarez and Felix returned after nursing accidents for the previous couple of weeks. They got here off the bench early within the second half however couldn’t spark Atletico to victory. Midfielder Thomas Lemar additionally returned from harm.

GRIEZMANN LEADS BARCA
Griezmann scored twice within the first half as Barcelona rallied to beat Villarreal and keep near the highest.
Villarreal, sitting seventh, performed with 10 males from the sixty fifth minute after Manu Trigueros was despatched off with a straight purple card for a harmful sliding sort out on Lionel Messi. Trigueros had his foot up when he hit Messi’s left leg, sliding his cleats on the Argentine’s decrease shin. Messi was in ache and wanted medical consideration however was capable of return.
The hosts opened the scoring with Samu Chukwueze within the twenty sixth, however Griezmann equalized within the twenty eighth and netted the winner within the thirty fifth.
Villarreal, which hosts Arsenal within the first leg of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday, has misplaced three of its final 4 league matches.
It was Barcelona’s second straight league win since dropping to Madrid within the final clasico of the season.

GAME ENDS TWICE
The recreation between Sevilla and Granada ended twice after the referee blew the whistle forward of time on the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville.
Four minutes of added time had been anticipated however referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea ended the sport after solely three. Granada gamers protested and video evaluation apparently was consulted, confirming that one other minute needed to be performed.
The referee needed to name the gamers again to the sphere to complete the match. Some had already left for the locker rooms and needed to put again on their sneakers and jerseys earlier than the sport might resume.
OTHER RESULTS
Enes Unal scored a objective in every half as Getafe gained 2-0 at Huesca in a match between relegation-threatened groups.
The end result ended Getafe’s seven-match winless streak. The Madrid membership moved to fifteenth within the standings, 5 factors from the relegation zone.
Huesca stayed second-to-last, three factors from security.
In a match between midtable groups, Celta Vigo beat Osasuna 2-1 with objectives from Iago Aspas and Jeison Murillo.