Atletico Madrid ‘s terrible form continued as the La Liga champions were defeated by bottom-placed Levante On Wednesday night.
Gonzalo Meleros scored nine minutes after the restart to earn Levante their first win of the season, denying Atleti a chance to return to the top four.
In the 23rd minute, when Stefan Savic’s misjudged header allowed Jorge de Frutos to rush through on goal but he couldn’t find a way past Jan Oblak, Atleti had Jan Oblak to thank for keeping the score equal.
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Levante have given up a league-high 50 goals so far this season, but they have been relatively untroubled throughout. In reality, Diego Simeone’s team did not have a single chance on target throughout the game, though Thomas Lemar should have tested goalkeeper Daniel Cardenas with a shot from the top of the box shortly before halftime.
Meleros gave Levante the lead in the 54th minute, sneaking the ball past Oblak at his near post after de Frutos’ assist.
When the referee adjudged Oscar Duarte to have blocked Geoffrey Kondogbia’s shot with his hand inside the penalty area, Atletico Madrid felt they had a reprieve, but the decision was reversed after a VAR check revealed Marcos Llorente was offside in the build-up.
Levante appeared to have a better chance of scoring the game’s second goal, and Oblak did a good job of keeping de Frutos from extending Levante’s lead.
Atleti were given seven minutes of additional time, but they were unable to produce an equaliser, and their despair was compounded when Angel Correa scored a spectacular overhead kick, only for the referee to rule it out for a foul. With an audacious effort that hit the woodwork, Levante attacker Mickael Malsa almost added to their suffering.
As a result of the defeat, Atletico Madrid misses out on the chance to leapfrog Barcelona into the Champions League places, as they stay fifth and the Catalans have a game in hand. Levante remain at the bottom of the table, 10 points away of safety.
