ATLETICO MADRID’S LA Liga title dream ended with a shock 2-1 loss at relegated Levante.
The result left Diego Simeone’s men three points behind Barcelona, but Luis Enrique’s side have a superior head-to-head record and cannot be caught by Atletico, while Real Madrid are now two points ahead of their cross-city rivals.
Simeone’s charges were high on confidence after winning their last six league games and reaching the Champions League final – where they will meet Real – at the expense of Bayern Munich on Tuesday, but were brought down to earth with a bang as Giuseppe Rossi netted a late goal to shunt them down to third in the table.
The Argentine coach opted to rest star attacker Antoine Griezmann, with Angel Correa getting the nod alongside Fernando Torres up front as they took on opponents whose relegation had already been confirmed.
It was Torres who gave Atletico a stunning start with a goal after just two minutes, but the visitors were unable to push on at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
Levante fought hard to give their fans a fine farewell in their last home game of the season and Victor Casadesus levelled the scoring just past the half-hour mark.
Stefan Savic and substitute Griezmann had chances to win it for the away side after the break, but Levante eventually emerged victorious as Rossi scored late on to seal a remarkable win.
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