Atlético stumble again

BARCELONA, Spain April 12, (AP): Atlético Madrid stumbled again in their bid to win a first Spanish league title in seven seasons after drawing 1-1 at Real Betis, leaving them narrowly ahead of second-place Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Yannick Carrasco put Atlético ahead five minutes into the match in Seville. But Cristian Tello struck back for Betis in the 20th, and the struggling front-runners needed goalkeeper Jan Oblak to make several saves to protect a point.

Diego Simeone’s side edged one point ahead of defending champion Real Madrid, which had gone top on the head-to-head tiebreaker with Atlético – after it beat Barcelona 2-1. Barcelona are in third place, a further point behind.

Atlético had led Madrid by 11 points at one stage after its very strong first half of the season. But Diego Simeone’s team has struggled in 2021, winning just two of their last six league matches They now can’t afford any further setbacks over the final eight rounds of the season.

“We started the season strong, while Madrid and Barcelona had troubles. Now we are struggling while Madrid is coming on strong after its big win, and Barcelona is right there,” Simeone said. “I love this stage of the season. It is decisive, it is exciting. We wanted to be here at the top, fighting against the best.” Atlético went into the match without Luis Suárez, their top scorer, and versatile midfielder Marcos Llorente. They were both suspended after picking up a fifth booking in last round’s 1-0 loss at Sevilla. Backup striker Moussa Dembélé was still unavailable after he lost consciousness in training two weeks ago.