Last-place Alavés surprised defending champion Atlético Madrid with a 1-0 victory within the Spanish league on Saturday.
Victor Laguardia scored with a header off a nook 4 minutes into the match, giving Alavés its first factors of the season and stopping Atlético from regaining the league lead.
Atlético stayed in second place, two factors behind Real Madrid, which hosts Villarreal later Saturday.
Atlético had been unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions this season.
The dwelling victory saved Alavés from equaling its worst-ever begin to the league. It had began with six straight losses in 2017-18.
Alavés hadn’t crushed Atlético within the league since 2003, with eight losses and 4 attracts in that span.
The solely workforce left with no level to begin the season is Getafe, which visits Real Betis on Sunday.
Tag: atletico la liga
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La Liga: Last-place Alaves stun Atletico with slender 1-0 victory
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Atletico set to clinch La Liga title with win and Real Madrid stumble
With a bit of assist from their hated native rivals, Atlético Madrid can clinch its first La Liga title in seven years on Sunday.
Atlético leads defending champion Real Madrid by two factors with two matches remaining and can win the title if it beats Osasuna at residence and Madrid fails to win at Athletic Bilbao.Things are heating up on the high… 🔥#LiveStandings #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/csE5fBKwsw
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) May 13, 2021
Any different mixture of outcomes will ship it to the ultimate spherical, and presumably deliver Barcelona again into the combination. Atletico visits Valladolid and Madrid hosts Villarreal on the ultimate weekend. Madrid holds the head-to-head tiebreaker in the event that they end even on factors.
Atlético protected its lead on Wednesday by beating Real Sociedad 2-1 with objectives from forwards Yannick Carrasco and Ángel Correa. Madrid stored tempo on Thursday with a 4-1 victory at Granada.
“I didn’t watch Atlético’s game yesterday. Everyone is focused on their own thing,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois mentioned after beating Granada.
“Atletico feel confident because they’ve won. We have to focus on what we do ourselves and win our games,” Courtois mentioned.
“There’s another final coming up against Athletic this Sunday and after the game we’ll look at the Atlético result.”
Before becoming a member of Madrid by way of a stint at Chelsea, Courtois helped Atlético win its final league title in 2014. Since then, Barcelona and Madrid have returned to divvying up the titles between them.Midfielder Koke Resurrección and defender José Giménez are the one holdouts from that championship staff seven years in the past. Koke made his five hundredth look for Atlético in opposition to Sociedad.
“The only thing that matters is the work I have put in all these years and have to keep going,” Koke mentioned about his milestone.
“(But) I care about the team, not what I achieve individually, and I hope that we can have the perfect finish to the season by winning the league title.”
The area to win probably the most tightly contested league in years was primarily lowered to 2 after each Barcelona and Sevilla didn’t hold tempo.
Sevilla was at all times an extended shot, however the staff actually fell out of contact after just one win in its final three video games. It is six factors again, and Atlético holds the tiebreaker over Sevilla.
But Barcelona had put itself proper within the thick of issues after going 19 matches with out a loss, just for its protection to let it down over the previous month. The staff has conceded seven objectives in its final 4 video games, together with a loss and back-to-back attracts.
Barcelona’s massively disappointing 3-3 draw in opposition to Levante in a match it led each 2-0 and 3-2 on Tuesday left it 4 factors behind Atlético. The staff, which hosts Celta Vigo on Sunday, would wish each Atlético and Madrid to disintegrate to tug off a exceptional comeback.
Ronald Koeman’s future as Barcelona may depend upon the result.
“Coaches are always under scrutiny, but I understand that there are questions (about me) after our second half (against Levante),” Koeman mentioned after the draw.
“We must keep going. We have to prepare for next season.”
The large query for Barcelona is that if the Copa del Rey title it received final month might be sufficient to persuade Lionel Messi to remain when his contract expires in a number of weeks.
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Atletico Madrid reply to dip in type with assertion victory at Villarreal
La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid secured an important 2-0 win away to Villarreal on Sunday to reaffirm their title ambitions following a troublesome run of outcomes.
Diego Simeone’s aspect had been smarting from twin defeats to Levante and Chelsea however went forward within the twenty fifth minute courtesy of an Alfonso Pedraza personal objective following a goalmouth scramble, the strike being flagged offside then given after a VAR overview.
Atletico survived one other video overview simply earlier than halftime when Thomas Lemar was proven a yellow card reasonably than a purple for elbowing an opponent earlier than document signing Joao Felix got here off the bench to double their lead within the 69th on the volley.
A primary win in 4 video games in all competitions moved Atletico on to 58 factors after 24 video games, 5 away from second-placed Barcelona, who’ve performed 25, and 6 above third-placed Real Madrid.
Real play at dwelling to Real Sociedad on Monday earlier than visiting Atletico subsequent Sunday in an important recreation within the title race.
“This win gives us a lot of confidence and puts us back on the path we were on before and now we’re really looking forward to the derby,” mentioned Stefan Savic.
“This was a very important game in a ground that is always difficult for us, we were on a bad run but we stood tall.”5️⃣1️⃣2️⃣ games3️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ wins
Diego Simeone equals Luis Aragones for many wins as Atletico Madrid supervisor ⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/635m2jgUPo
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 28, 2021
Villarreal slid all the way down to seventh within the standings on 37 factors and are with no win of their final seven league video games.
Unai Emery’s aspect took the sport to Atletico within the early levels however struggled to create any actual hazard and fell behind from a set piece.
Thomas Lemar whipped a nook in the direction of the far submit and Savic nodded it throughout the objective the place it was inadvertently bundled in by Pedraza.
Villarreal missed an ideal likelihood to equalise earlier than halftime when Moreno scuffed a shot which keeper Jan Oblak saved and Atletico captain Koke needed to scramble the free ball off the road.
Atletico practically doubled their lead early within the second half by means of prime scorer Luis Suarez however the Uruguayan’s shot was tipped over the bar by Sergio Asenjo.
Villarreal reasserted themselves on the sport however once more didn’t get previous Oblak and had been dealt a deadly blow by Felix, who celebrated his first objective since late January by placing his finger to his lips.