A brilliant pass from Joo Felix established the winner of Coke as Atletico Madrid slipped to third place in a 1-0 win over Rio Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday. Atlético held the advantage in Valleques, with Barcelona playing Real Madrid in the Clasico on Sunday, their fifth consecutive win to give them some breathing space in their top-four battle. He was to watch with 10 men in the final nine minutes, when Angel Correa was sent in as a substitute. But as they did against Manchester United on Tuesday in the Champions League, Atletico ditched and held on.
They now have a five-point lead over Real Betis and are three ahead of Barcelona in fourth, even though Betis has one game in hand and Barca two.
Diego Simeone’s side enters the international break with the pace on course for the run-in, after an excellent seven days that began with a win against Cadiz before United were knocked out.
Friday’s draw ensured the reward for that result will be a meeting with Manchester City in the last eight and while Atletico will be the clear underdog against the defending Premier League champions, they are also building form and confidence at the right time.
“I think we have found the key, we have increased the intensity, the team is playing better and that is reflected in the results,” Koke said.
“We grew up together,” Simone said.
Felix has been crucial, be it his seventh goal or assist in his last seven appearances, repaying the confidence of 22-year-old Simeone while Luis Suarez resumes on the bench.
It was the sixth game in a row that Suárez was named as a substitute and, with the faster, more agile pairing of Felix and Antoine Griezmann, Atlético made their progress.
After making 10 league matches without a win, Rayo remains in 12th place. They were in contention for the European places only a few weeks ago, but are now only eight points above the relegation places.
Felix was in the center of the deciding moment in the 49th minute as Coke collected at the edge of the field and played inside the Portuguese.
As Rayo’s defense turned towards Felix, no one saw Koke continue his run, except for the forward, who slid the ball first to curl Koke into the finish.
Griezmann should have made it two, but was denied a close-range save from Stoll Dmitrievsky and Atlético when Oscar Valentin’s powered cross found Randy Neteka five yards free. Somehow, Nateka turned oblique.
Correa was seen in a brawl with Rayo’s Alejandro Catena in the 85th minute, and Rayo came close in injury time after Dmitrievsky was sent for a corner. The ball goes loose for Ivan Blyau and he hits a low shot, but straight on Jan Oblak.
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