No honor guard for Real as Atlético beat champs
MADRID, May 9, (AP): After keeping a promise that it wouldn’t give Real Madrid an honor guard before the game, Atlético Madrid went on to beat the newly crowned Spanish league champions 1-0 Sunday and moved closer to securing a Champions League spot.
Atlético clinched the victory in the last city derby of the season with a 40th-minute penalty kick converted by Yannick Carrasco in the first win against their rivals since 2018.
It gave fourth-place Atlético a sixpoint advantage over fifth-place Real Betis, the first team outside the Champions League spots with three rounds to go. Betis lost 2-1 at home to secondplace Barcelona on Saturday.
Sevilla stayed one point in front of Atlético after salvaging a stoppagetime 1-1 draw at Villarreal earlier Sunday.
Madrid clinched their record-extending 35th league title last weekend with a 4-0 home win against Espanyol.
Madrid’s fans wanted Atlético to keep a tradition whereby players line up to applaud their opponents as they enter the field before kickoff. But Atlético said ahead of the match that they were not going to do this to avoid upsetting their fans at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Madrid were coming off its epic victory
over Manchester City to advance to the Champions League final.
Jules Koundé scored deep into stoppage time as Sevilla escaped with a draw at Villarreal to stay one point ahead of Atlético and seven points in front of Seville city rivals Betis.
Koundé found the net five minutes into stoppage time after getting to a loose ball inside the area in one of the last plays of the game. Sevilla goalkeeper Bono also was in the area trying to score the equalizer.
Villarreal, coming off elimination from the Champions League after a home loss to Liverpool on Tuesday, had opened the scoring with Giovani Lo Celso in the 86th.
It was the second consecutive winless game for Unai Emery’s team, which stayed in seventh place.
Koundé’s goal came in Sevilla’s only second shot on target at the La Cerámica Stadium.
Rayo Vallecano mathematically secured theirposition in the first division with a 0-0 draw at Getafe.
Radamel Falcao was a second-half substitute for midtable Rayo, which had returned to the top flight this season after two consecutive years in the second division.
Getafe are not yet out of danger of being demoted for the first time since 2016. They sit in 15th place, five points above the relegation zone.
Espanyol earlier Sunday drew 1-1 with Osasuna at home in a match between teams far from the relegation zone.