Atletico Madrid Fights for Second Place with Dominant Home Win
Atletico Madrid solidified their third-place position in La Liga with a 3-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, extending their lead over fourth place to six points.
Atletico Madrid hosted Rayo Vallecano in a La Liga match and took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from Alexandre Sorloth and Conor Gallagher. Diego Simeone’s team continued their dominance in the second half, adding another goal through Julián Álvarez.
Starting Lineups:
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Galán, Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher, Sorloth, Álvarez
Rayo Vallecano: Bataia, Ratik, Lejon, Siss, Espino, López, Valentín, Palazon, Díaz, García, Enteka
In the third minute, Sorloth opened the scoring with a header from Simeone’s cross, signaling a tough night for the visitors. Before the 10th minute, Sorloth had two more chances but couldn’t convert. In the 28th minute, Palazon’s shot was brilliantly saved by Oblak.
The teams exchanged chances until Gallagher doubled Atletico’s lead just before halftime with another header.
Atletico controlled the game in the second half, and Álvarez sealed the victory in the 77th minute after a counterattack assisted by Antoine Griezmann.
With this important win, Atletico now sits third with 66 points, comfortably securing their Champions League spot while keeping an eye on second place, though they trail Real Madrid (72) and Barcelona (76) by significant margins.
