La Liga leaders Atletico drop points again

Luis Suarez of Atletico de Madrid shoots towards goal whilst under pressure from Aitor Fernandez of Levante UD during the La Liga Santander match between Levante UD and Atletico Madrid at Ciutat de Valencia on February 17, 2021 in Valencia, Spain.

Atletico Madrid have been to a 1-1 draw at Levante in a La Liga match postponed from the second round of the season, a result that extended their lead over Real Madrid to six points.

Seeking a first league title since 2014, Atletico still have a game in hand over their city rivals.

While unbeaten in 11 straight league matches, Diego Simeone's team have drawn two of their past three.

Levante took the lead through Enis Bardhi after a breakaway in the 17th minute.

Marcos Llorente equalised for the visitors in the 37th with a shot from outside the area that deflected off a defender before going in.

Angel Correa had a great chance to score the winner early in the second half but missed the net from close range with only the goalkeeper to beat off the rebound of a shot by Luis Suarez.

Atletico forward Saul Niguez had a goal disallowed for offside near the end while goalkeeper Jan Oblak made a great save to deny Carlos Clerc in the final minutes and keep the match level.

Levante and Atletico will meet again on Saturday in Madrid in the 24th round of the season.

Atletico have a tough schedule ahead, with matches against Chelsea in the Champions League and Villarreal and Real Madrid in the Spanish top-flight.

Simeone's team saw the return of Joao Felix after a positive coronavirus test, though he started on the bench.

Levante, who are 11th, are winless in the league since a victory at Real Madrid three rounds ago.

Midfielder Koke made his 484th official appearance for Atletico to surpass Tomas Renones and sit behind only Adelardo Rodriguez (550 games) in most games for the club.


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