February 17, (THEWILL) – Atletico Madrid’s chances of finishing in the top four were dealt another blow when they were defeated 1-0 at home by Levante, who became the first away team to win two La Liga games at the Wanda Metropolitano, Diego Simeone’s hallowed grounds.
Simeone’s charges were overtaken in fourth place by Barcelona ten days ago, and if the Blaugrana win their game in hand, the champions will be three points behind in the crucial top four struggle for a place in elite European football.
Despite their lacklustre performance, Atletico remained level at halftime, but Gonzalo Melero’s clean finish punished them in the 54th minute.
Soon after, a penalty award in Atletico’s favour was reversed, and even though Simeone brought attacking players on late in the game, they were unable to salvage a point.
In a first half in which Levante dominated for periods with 60% possession, Atletico produced little in terms of counter-measures to disturb the visiting side.
As Levante looked destined to grab the lead in the 22nd minute, Jan Oblak came to the rescue with a crucial one-on-one stop that denied Jorge de Frutos after Stefan Savic’s misjudged header.
De Frutos set up Melero for a first-time goal that beat Oblak at his near post to put Levante ahead early in the second half.
When Geoffrey Kondogbia’s attempt was blocked by an arm, Atletico thought they had an opportunity to equalise from the spot, but referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero overruled his judgement owing to Marcos Llorente straying offside in the build-up.
Later in the game, Angel Correa’s equaliser was disallowed for an apparent foul on Martin Caceres by Jose Gimenez, before Mickael Malsa’s 40-yard strike hit the crossbar for Levante. Yet, it mattered little as the visitors clung on for a stunning win.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
