May 14, (THEWILL) – Atletico Madrid missed a golden opportunity to move ahead of Real Madrid and claim second place in La Liga on Sunday, as a costly mistake by goalkeeper Ivo Grbic, led to a 1-0 defeat against relegated Elche.
Diego Simeone’s side, who were on a three-match winning streak, had the chance to surpass their city rivals at the Estadio Martinez Valero. However, Fidel Chaves’ goal restored some pride for the bottom-placed team.
Elche took the lead just before halftime when Grbic, standing in for the injured Jan Oblak, mishandled a punch attempt from Lautaro Blanco’s long throw. This error left the goal unguarded, allowing Elche captain Fidel to hook the ball into the net.
In the second half, Edgar Badia made a crucial one-on-one save to deny Alvaro Morata an equaliser and maintain their lead in what was one of his finest performances all season. Despite both Pere Milla and Lucas Boye squandering clear chances, Elche came closest to scoring a second goal than Atletico did in finding a leveller.
Although Atletico Madrid is virtually guaranteed a top-four finish, they now face an uphill battle to overtake Real Madrid. With four games remaining, Simeone’s team sits two points behind Carlo Ancelotti’s men in third place. In the next matches, Elche will face Getafe on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid will take on Osasuna on Sunday.
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.
