Atlético beat Levante to move top above Barcelona

Atletico Madrid earned a solid 2-0 win at Levante on Saturday to move provisionally top of La Liga before Barcelona host Alaves later on. Diego Simeone’s side climbed a point clear of the Catalan giants, who suffered their first league defeat against rivals Real Madrid last weekend. Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone in Valencia helped Atletico record a seventh consecutive league win to continue their strong form and put pressure on the reigning champions.

“I’m very happy with the team’s work,” Atletico coach Simeone told Movistar. “We’re very far from the end of the season… we’ll keep going game by game.” There was a minute’s silence at the start of the match in memory of the 69 victims of the train crash in the province of Toledo that rocked Spain this week. Levante’s Dani Requena forced Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak into an impressive early save.

Morten Hjulmand thought he had put Atletico ahead after Alex Baena slipped him in, but a VAR review showed the Dane was offside. Baena, the visitors’ main creative outlet, was involved in the opener. The Spaniard’s pass was poorly defended by Levante and the ball bobbled through to Grimaldo, who lashed high into the net at the near post. Lee Kang-in hit the crossbar early in the second half as Atletico looked to put the game to bed.

The coach’s son Giuliano prodded home for Atletico’s second goal after being played in by World Cup winner Baena. Oblak saved superbly from Karl Etta Eyong to stop the hosts fighting their way back into the game. It was Simeone’s 344th La Liga win at the helm of Atletico, matching the club’s record set by Luis Aragones. “I don’t feel it much as mine, but it belongs to my players, everyone who has been with me for so many years,” said Simeone, who started coaching Atletico in 2011.

Atletico host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday before welcoming Barca to the Metropolitano stadium next weekend in La Liga. On Sunday, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, third, visit Racing Santander among other fixtures. AFP