He Atletico Madrid defeated 3-1 Athletic in the Metropolitano and confirmed itself in the last place in the UEFA Champions League, on date 33 of LaLiga, thanks to the goals of Rodrigo DePaul and Ángel Correa.
De Paul (left) and Correa (right) gave Simeone the victory in the Metropolitano EFE
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Already out of the other competitions and very far from Real Madrid (20 points away), qualifying for the top tournament is the great goal that remains for Diego Simeone’s team in this season. And this Saturday was a key match for that objective, since the Basque team was only three points behind Colchonero.
But the goals of the two Argentines world champions (Nahuel Molina was also a starter) were the ones who They led to this much-needed victory.
After 15 minutes of play, Rodrigo DePaul He opened the account, taking a rebound from a bad clearance by the Basques, and thanks to a deflection he made it 1-0. But before the break, Atlético paid for their mistakes with a partial tie: Antoine Griezmann lost a ball that allowed Athletic’s counterattack, which took advantage of an opponent who was badly stopped in defense and Nico Williams leveled the score.
Already in the complement, Angelito appeared, who for the ninth time in the league season had his chance to be there from the start: in the 52nd minute, he received a great assist from Koke, surpassed goalkeeper Unai Simón at the start to return the advantage to Atlético .
And Samuel Lino forced the closing of the score, with a shot that hit the post, bounced off the goalkeeper’s back and went into the goal.
Thus, with 15 points at stake, Atlético was six ahead of a direct rival to return to the Champions League next season.