Atletico Madrid defeated their local rivals and La Liga champions Real Madrid to put themselves in a position to qualify for the Champions League.
Real Madrid made seven changes to their lineup following their thrilling triumph against Manchester City on Wednesday, knowing they had secured the title.
In the first half, Atletico dominated and Yannick Carrasco scored the game-winning penalty after Matheus Cunha was pulled down in the penalty area.
Real Betis are in fifth place, six points ahead of Diego Simeone’s side, who are in fourth.
The Atletico manager stirred the crowd with his arms as the defending champions held on to a victory that moves them into third place, one point behind Sevilla.
The hosts had several opportunities to extend their lead, with Angel Correa missing a long-range shot early on and Cunha having his shot saved following some excellent work by Antoine Griezmann.
Antoine Griezmann and Sergio Carrasco both had excellent exchanges in the area, but Griezmann’s effort went wide of Andriy Lunin’s goal, while Carrasco’s effort went in off the inside of the near post moments later.
The quality of Real Madrid’s play increased once Vinicius Junior was introduced in the second half, and the Brazil forward’s driving run brought up an excellent chance for Marco Asensio, which was saved by the goalkeeper.
Substitute In the end-to-end duel at the Wanda Metropolitano, Federico Valverde put Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak through his paces on two occasions.
Prior to facing Liverpool in the Champions League final on May 28 in Paris, Carlo Ancelotti’s champions have three more league games to play.
As it stands
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 35 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 73 | 30 | 43 | 81 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 35 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 65 | 35 | 30 | 69 |
| 3 | Sevilla | 35 | 17 | 14 | 4 | 51 | 29 | 22 | 65 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 35 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 60 | 41 | 19 | 64 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 35 | 17 | 7 | 11 | 57 | 40 | 17 | 58 |
| 6 | Real Sociedad | 35 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 56 |
| 7 | Villarreal | 35 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 55 | 34 | 21 | 53 |
| 8 | Ath Bilbao | 35 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 41 | 34 | 7 | 52 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 35 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 36 | 46 | -10 | 46 |
| 10 | Valencia | 35 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 45 | 49 | -4 | 44 |
