Atletico Madrid have moved to the top of the La Liga standings after they sealed a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Real Madrid suffered a blow to their title hopes as they lost 2-1 at Real Betis following goals from Johnny Cardoso and Isco.
Diego Simeone’s side had a chance to climb to the top and they capitalised at the Metropolitano Stadium thanks to Julian Alvarez’s 66th minute winner.
Atletico entered the home contest after playing out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Barcelona in the first-leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.
The Rijiblancos created good scoring opportunities in the first-half but lack of quality in the final third meant they couldn’t break the deadlock. Alexander Sorloth endured a particularly poor outing as he was guilty of missing three chances.
Nico and Inaki Williams also came close for the Basque outfit, but the duo failed to convert.
Simeone replaced Sorloth with Alvarez at the hour mark and the Argentine made an immediate impact for the team.
The 25-year-old ran on to an excellent pass from Marcos Llorente before beating the goalkeeper with an excellent finish in the 66th minute.
Bilbao threatened to level the scores but Atletico held on to seal maximum points, with the result putting them top of the La Liga standings.
However, they could drop down to second, with Barcelona set to play Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Atletico will now turn their focus to the Champions League where they meet city rivals Real Madrid in the first-leg of the last-16 tie on Tuesday.
Read the full article here