10-man Atletico miss chance to go top of LaLiga

By SABC Sport
9th March 2025

Atletico Madrid missed a golden opportunity to move top of LaLiga and instead may have done irreparable damage to their title ambitions against Getafe.

With table-topping Barcelona having their match postponed on Saturday after the unfortunate passing of the club's team doctor.

This left Atletico with a huge chance to go top of LaLiga with a win against Getafe on Saturday but a poor display and a red card for Angel Correa meant they were on the end of 2-1 defeat instead.

The result leaves them a point behind Barca in the standings but the Catalans now have a game in hand to stretch that advantage with the business end of the season looming.

There is also a chance they could drop down the table with third-placed Real Madrid hosting Rayo Vallecano later on Sunday.

Atletico head coach Diego Simeone threw everything he had at the match, picking a very strong starting XI despite having a Champions League round of 16 match against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

The move did not pay dividends, though, as Getafe's strategy to defend and frustrate Atletico proved to be very successful and the visitors struggled to find a breakthrough.

The first half of the match turned out to be a fairly dull display as a result, with Getafe not putting much energy into going forward.

They were much improved after the break and a smart substitution by Simeone - bringing Alexander Sorloth on for Julian Alvarez up front - made a huge impact.

Sorloth would ultimately break the deadlock from the penalty spot after Omar Alderete was blown up for handling the ball in the box.

Atletico looked to be cruising to a win with Getafe not really having produced much all game but that all changed in the 87th minute when Correa was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Djene Dakonam.

Getafe levelled the scores through Arambarri moments after the incident, which also resulted in 10 minutes of stoppage time being added on to the game.

It was during the extended extra time that Diego Rico's long-range effort was deflected in to hand Getafe an unlikely win and seriously hamper Atletico's chances of being able to win LaLiga this season.

Elsewhere in LaLiga on Saturday, 10-man Alves were able to cling on for a narrow 1-0 win over Villareal, while Celta Vigo beat Leganes 2-1 and Valencia were also victorious by a 2-1 margin over Valladoid.