Atletico Madrid drop points against Getafe
Sports Desk, Mar 13 (efe-epa).- Lowly Getafe stymied Atletico Madrid 0-0 Saturday to deny the LaLiga leaders a chance to give themselves a cushion over defending champions Real Madrid.
Despite playing with the advantage for the final 25 minutes after Getafe’s Allan Nyom was sent off for stomping on Renan Lodi, the Colchoneros failed to break through.
Diego Simeone’s men have won only three times in their last eight LaLiga games, taking 13 of 23 possible points. While the two teams chasing them, Real Madrid and Barcelona, appear to be hitting their respective strides as the season enters the decisive phase.
The Blancos, 2-1 winners Saturday against Elche, now trail their cross-town rivals by just 6 points, and Barça can move to within 4 points of Atleti with a victory on Monday over last-place Huesca.
Simeone acknowledged the pressure in his post-match press conference on Saturday.
“With our work, we are trying to continue on our path, match by match, calmly, knowing that a pile (of matches) remain and that we have two monsters behind us who have the hope of arriving where we are,” the Argentine said.
Atleti enjoyed 73 percent possession against Getafe, but had only two shots on target in the first half, both of them the work of Yannick Carrasco.
The home side’s single opportunity before the break was the result of a rare miscue by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who got away with spilling the ball in the box amid a swarm of attackers.
Marcos Llorente forced a diving stop from Getafe keeper David Soria 12 minutes into the second half, shortly before Atleti’s Joao Felix scored only to see the goal disallowed because the ball went out of bounds during the buildup.
A blast from Luis Suarez hit the post in the 82 minute and Moussa Dembele headed wide in the final minute of regulation. EFE
id/dr
