Barcelona, Girona let leader Madrid off the hook

MADRID — Presented with a chance to gain ground on Spanish league leader Real Madrid, both Girona and then Barcelona tamely surrendered points on Sunday.

After Madrid drew in Valencia the night before, surprising title challenger Girona had a chance to reverse its recent slump and regain some ground.

But it continued to subside, losing 1-0 at Real Mallorca.

That gave giant Catalan rival Barcelona a chance to take second, but it drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao in the late game.

Girona remained second, seven points behind Madrid with Barca another point behind.

Atletico Madrid tightened its grip on fourth as it beat Real Betis 2-1.

On Saturday, Madrid drew 2-2 at Valencia in a game that ended in controversy as Jude Bellingham, who thought he had just scored the winner, was sent off for protesting after his strike was ruled out because the referee had blown the final whistle.

In Palma on Sunday, Mallorca, fresh from reaching the Copa del Rey final, scored the only goal after 33 minutes.

Following a corner, the ball rebounded off Mallorca’s Cyle Larin and fell to Jose-Manuel Copete in space less than 10 meters out. The defender smashed a shot in off the underside of the bar.

Girona enjoyed a slight edge in possession but struggled to create clear-cut chances as it failed to score for the third time in five games.

“I am disappointed with the result but not with the team’s attitude,” said Girona coach Michel Sanchez.

The victory pulled Mallorca up to 15th, eight points clear of the relegation places.

Barcelona ended its visit to Bilbao playing out an uneventful goalless draw at walking pace.

“We didn’t play a good game, we didn’t attack well,” said coach Xavi Hernandez. “We didn’t play our best. The match required more from us. It’s a missed opportunity. The team could have done more.”

Barcelona also suffered potentially costly injuries to Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who went off in tears.

Bilbao stayed fifth, five points behind Atletico, the only team that started the weekend in the top half of the table to win.

In the afternoon, Atletico took the lead against Betis after eight minutes thanks to a helping hand from the visitor.

Memphis Depay drove a cross toward Alvaro Morata, lurking at the far post, but the ball never reached the Spain striker as three Betis players combined to put the ball into their own net.

Hector Bellerin scuffed the ball onto teammate German Pezzella who deflected it toward the line where goalkeeper Rui Silva could only parry it into his own goal.

Rui Silva brought down Morata to concede a 27th-minute penalty but the goalkeeper saved the spot-kick and two follow-up attempts by Morata.

Morata found the target in the 43rd minute, nodding in a rebound from close range after Rui Silva saved a shot by Rodrigo de Paul.

“It was a deserved victory,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone. “We needed it.”

William Carvalho pulled one back for Betis with a long-range blast after 62 minutes.

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak pushed a shot from Guido Rodriguez onto the post as Atletico absorbed late Betis pressure.