Atletico Madrid moved to the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win over Levante on Saturday, putting pressure on Barcelona ahead of their match against Alaves.
Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone scored for Diego Simeone’s side in Valencia as Atletico secured their seventh straight league victory.
The win took Atletico one point clear of Barcelona, who suffered their first league defeat against Real Madrid last weekend.
Levante made a bright start and came close to scoring when Dani Requena forced Jan Oblak into an early save.
Atletico then thought they had taken the lead through Morten Hjulmand, but VAR ruled out the goal for offside.
The visitors eventually broke the deadlock when Alex Baena’s pass found its way through the Levante defence. Grimaldo collected the loose ball and fired it high into the net at the near post.
Atletico continued to attack after the break. Lee Kang-in struck the crossbar before Giuliano Simeone doubled the lead.
Baena played Giuliano through on goal, and the Argentine finished from close range to give the visitors a comfortable advantage.
Levante tried to respond, but Oblak produced another fine save to deny Karl Etta Eyong.
The victory also marked Diego Simeone’s 344th La Liga win as Atletico manager, equalling the club record held by Luis Aragones.
“I’m very happy with the team’s work,” Simeone told Movistar.
“We’re very far from the end of the season… we’ll keep going game by game.”
The Argentine also played down his personal achievement.
“I don’t feel it much as mine, but it belongs to my players, everyone who has been with me for so many years,” he said.
Atletico will now turn their attention to Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich before hosting Barcelona in a crucial league clash next weekend.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid, who sit third in the table, will face Racing Santander on Sunday.
