Torres starts Atletico farewell with a goal against Levante

Fernando Torres started bidding farewell to Atletico Madrid on Sunday by scoring in a 3-0 win over Levante that strengthened his team's hold on second place in the Spanish league.

Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann put Atletico ahead before substitute Torres scored in his first match since announcing that he would leave his boyhood club at the end of the season.

The former Spain standout will now have six more league matches for Atletico, along with a minimum of two legs of the Europa League semifinal against Arsenal.

Atletico remained 11 points behind undefeated Barcelona with six rounds remaining, meaning its best chances of finishing the season with silverware rest in the Europa League. Correa opened the scoring for the hosts in the 33rd minute.

The Argentine midfielder received a short pass from Victor "Vitolo" Machin and used a quick

Yesterday Eibar-Alaves .................................... 0-1 Atl. Madrid-Levante ........................ 3-0 Getafe-Espanyol .............................. 1-0 Malaga-Real Madrid ........................ 1-2

Standings

P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 32 25 7 0 81 17 82 Atl. Madrid 32 21 8 3 54 15 71 Real Madrid 32 20 7 5 79 35 67 Valencia 32 20 5 7 60 33 65 Betis 32 16 4 12 53 53 52 Villarreal 32 14 6 12 43 39 48 Sevilla 32 14 5 13 41 52 47 Girona 32 12 8 12 44 49 44 Celta Vigo 32 12 7 13 50 44 43 Getafe 32 11 9 12 36 30 42 Real Sociedad 32 11 7 14 57 52 40 Eibar 32 11 7 14 36 46 40 Ath Bilbao 32 9 12 11 35 38 39 Leganes 32 11 6 15 27 39 39 Alaves 32 12 2 18 29 45 38 Espanyol 32 8 12 12 26 39 36 Levante 32 6 13 13 28 48 31 Dep. La Coruna32 6 8 18 32 65 26 Las Palmas 32 5 6 21 22 64 21 Malaga 32 4 5 23 20 50 17 change of foot to fire past three defenders.

Griezmann wasted a one-on-one situation with Oier Olazabal shortly before halftime when he was booked for diving after contact with the goalkeeper.