La Liga title race: Atletico crash out, Barcelona, Real Madrid in hunt

Real Madrid snatched a decisive 3-2 win against Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium here on Sunday, while Barcelona inched closer to the top position after thrashing Espanyol 5-0, reports Efe.

On the other hand, Atletico’s title dreams have faded away after losing 1-2 against already relegated and bottom team Levante during their penultimate round as their suspended Argentine coach Diego Simeone watched his boys getting defeated from the stands.

Atletico took the lead in the second minute of the game, but Levante equalised in 30 minutes from a header from Victor Casadesus. In the 90th minute, Italian Guiseppe Rossi broke clear and buried the ball past Jan Oblak, and thus, buried the Atleti’s fight  for the title.

Barcelona won 5-0 with a superb free kick by Lionel Messi in the 8th minute, followed by two goals from Luis Suarez in the 52nd and 61st minutes. The Brazilian Rafinha left his mark in 74th minute while Neymar ended the party in the 83th minute.

At the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid snatched a painstaking 3-2 win from Valencia, which had its lines shaken after Rodrigo Moreno was sent off in 83 minutes.

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in 26th and 59th minutes, while Benzema scored in 42nd minute.

For Valencia, Rodrigo and Andre Gomes scored in 55nd and 81st minutes respectively.

Currently Barcelona leads the table with 88 points and ahead of Real Madrid by only a point. Both teams are scheduled to play their last La Liga games next Saturday against Granada and Deportivo La Coruna respectively.