Spanish champions Atletico Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 loss at lowly Mallorca on Saturday to end their six-game winning streak in LaLiga as they prepared for the second leg of their Champions League quarter‑final against Manchester City.
Coach Diego Simeone rested several players looking forward to their Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Manchester City and Atletico struggled to find their rhythm against fourth-bottom Mallorca who were on a run of seven consecutive league losses.
Mallorca’s winner was scored in the 71st minute by Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi who converted a penalty after Atletico defender Reinildo Mandava fouled Pablo Maffeo in the box. The result left them fourth in the table on 57 points, level with Barcelona, who have two games in hand, and three points behind second-placed Sevilla.
Mallorca, who are battling against relegation, started the match with a defensive mindset but with Atlético struggling to create much in the first half the home team went on the attack after the break. They had the first scoring opportunity of the game at the start of the second half when Brian Oliván sent in a powerful shot which the Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak dived to stop just inside his left post.
Mallorca had another great chance when Muriqi was inches away with a header from a free-kick with only the goalkeeper in front of him. Mallorca got their goal after Mandava’s foul on Maffeo, Muriqi sending his spot-kick into the top corner of the net.
“We need to do more, we need to do better,” Oblak told Movistar Plus. “Yes, we were tired after last Tuesday’s game at Manchester City when we didn’t play a good game, it was a disappointing result, but there is no excuse.
“They are fighting for survival and came to the game with a purpose. We should have expected that and be up to our standards.”
Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga needed an 82nd-minute penalty from Robert Lewandowski to snatch a 1-0 victory over visitors Augsburg and protect their nine-point lead with five matches remaining.
Lewandowski converted the spot-kick awarded for a hand ball, breaking Augsburg’s valiant resistance, to keep Bayern comfortably clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who won 2-0 against VfB Stuttgart on Friday, and on course for a record-extending 10th straight league crown.
Bayern, who suffered their first Champions League loss of the season in midweek after going down 1-0 at Villarreal in their quarter-final first leg, were toothless for much of the game, without a single corner in the first half.
Lewandowski thought he had finally broken the deadlock with a 47th-minute header but the Augsburg keeper Rafal Gikiewicz somehow got a hand to the ball to push it away.
Bayern finally won the penalty after a VAR review of a Reece Oxford handball and Lewandowski stepped up to send Gikiewicz the wrong way for his 32nd league goal of the campaign.
Inter Milan closed the gap on Serie A leaders Milan to one point after cruising to a 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona. With Milan not in action until Sunday, Inter built on their crucial 1-0 win over Juventus last weekend with a comfortable victory at the San Siro.
Two goals in the first half put them beyond the visitors, with Nicolò Barella’s fine, half-volleyed finish and a tap-in from the Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko on the half-hour mark doing the damage for the hosts. Danilo D’Ambrosio had a great chance to score another late on but fired too close to the Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo, who tipped the ball on to the post.
Inter go above Napoli, who face Fiorentina on Sunday, into second on 66 points from 31 matches. Verona stay ninth on 45 points.
“I know how hard we work, I know how much the boys care, I know that we have brought home a (Italian) Super Cup,” coach Simone Inzaghi said. “But I know that by coaching Inter there may be criticisms at times, which is right that they should be made, yet I have always had confidence.
“I know the path we are pursuing. There are seven to go, we are all there, we will have to fight in every game because the pitfalls in this Serie A are always around the corner.”
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