BARCELONA, Spain :Atletico Madrid suffered a major blow in the LaLiga title race when they were held 1-1 at relegation-threatened Espanyol on Saturday after Cesar Azpilicueta’s first-half strike was cancelled out by the home side’s captain Javi Puado.
Third-placed Atletico are winless in three league games after drawing with Espanyol for the fourth time in a row as they sit six points below leaders Barcelona, who have played a game less.
The hard-earned point moved 15th-placed Espanyol two points clear of the relegation zone.
“Two important points have slipped away. It’s a strange moment, a difficult moment that we’re not able to win,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.
“We are not having the necessary consistency to be able to fight for LaLiga.”
Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann, making his 521st LaLiga appearance to break Lionel Messi’s record of being the most capped foreigner in the league, found the net three minutes in but the offside flag was up.
However, Frenchman Griezmann made up for his early disappointment when he helped set up Atletico’s breakthrough goal in the 38th minute.
Marash Kumbulla’s headed attempt to clear Griezmann’s cross reached Azpilicueta outside the box, whose calm right-footed shot swung out of a diving Joan Garcia’s reach to find the net near the post.
“It turned out okay,” said Azpilicueta, who last scored in 2022, after bagging his first LaLiga goal in his 133rd appearance. “Well, that’s a lot of LaLiga matches without scoring.”
Atletico almost doubled their lead just three minutes later from another mistake by Kumbulla, whose attempted clearance was intercepted by Conor Gallagher but the English midfielder’s shot from inside the box went wide of the far post.
Espanyol, who had only 39 per cent possession in the match, were not having much success with their attack, but the home fans in the Stage Front stadium soon roared back to life when Clement Lenglet brought down Leandro Cabrera near the edge of the box.
Puado made no mistake from the spot to make it even in the 71st minute.
“We were in the game and we knew we would have a chance. They had the ball but they didn’t hurt us. I’m very happy with the draw,” Puado told Movistar after scoring his ninth LaLiga goal of the season.
Atletico next face Barcelona in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie on Wednesday, having drawn the first leg 4-4. Espanyol visit Rayo Vallecano on Friday.
