Atletico stumbles again in La Liga after draw at Espanyol

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Atletico Madrid’s slim hopes of fighting for the La Liga title faded further after drawing at Espanyol 1-1 on Saturday.

The stalemate left Diego Simeone’s side six points behind leader Barcelona and three behind Real Madrid before both play games this weekend. After that, there will be nine rounds left.

Atletico led the league in January and looked poised to have its best shot at claiming the title it has won twice under Simeone's decade in charge. But the wheels have come off in March. The slip at Espanyol followed back-to-back losses to Getafe and Barcelona, interspersed with two losses to Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak didn’t hide his disappointment with his team’s performance of late, especially after the club spent big in the summer to put together arguably the deepest squad in Spain.

“Two more important points have gotten away from us. It is tough to understand why this is happening,” Oblak said. “We talked in January about how we needed to be consistent to compete for the title and we are not showing it. The teams behind us are closing and the teams at the top are getting away.”

Oblak said Atletico must regroup for Wednesday's Copa del Rey second-leg semifinal against Barcelona because “we want to at least fight for that title.”

César Azpilicueta put Atletico ahead in the 38th minute with a spectacular volley of a clearance by an Espanyol defender that fell to him outside the area.

It was the 35-year-old Azpilicueta’s first career goal in La Liga. The defender played for Osasuna from 2007-10 and joined Atletico in 2023 after a successful stint at Chelsea, where he won the Champions League.

But Espanyol pressed forward in the second half, and Javi Puado converted a penalty to level in the 71st after Clement Lenglet pulled down Leandro Cabrera while disputing a cross in the box.

Espanyol, in 15th place, is undefeated in nine home games, a run which included a shock win over Real Madrid.

Also, Mikel Oyarzabal and Sergio Gómez scored as Real Sociedad beat last-placed Valladolid 2-1.

Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann set a new record for games played by a foreigner in La Liga with 521 appearances. The French forward surpassed the 520 games played by Lionel Messi of Argentina.

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