Atletico extend lead as Madrid slip at Elche

 

Atletico Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga on Wednesday after Luis Suarez fired them to a 1-0 win over Getafe.

Suarez struck in the 20th minute with a superb header from Yannick Carrasco’s cross to move Diego Simeone’s Atletico up to 35 points, two ahead of local rivals Madrid after they were pegged back by a Fidel Chaves penalty following Luka Modric’s early opener.

Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Villarreal are all a further seven points back, with Barcelona 10 behind Atletico in sixth after their shock 1-1 draw with Eibar on Tuesday.

Atletico have also played two fewer matches than reigning champions Madrid after a win emblematic of Simeone’s reign on his 500th match as coach of the club.

“When I got on the plane to come here I thought that when I left the club (as a player) that I always wanted to come back,” said Simeone, who is in his 10th year as Atletico coach.

“I found men (Koke, Saul Niguez) who wanted to get the club out of the bad patch it was in, and I have a relationship with them that goes beyond football.”

Uruguay forward Suarez’s eighth goal of the season was as good as it got for Atletico, who despite fielding a full-strength line-up did not impress in a match of little incident at the Wanda Metropolitano.