Pablo Barrios scored deep in added time to give Atlético Madrid a much-needed 2-1 La Liga win at Sevilla on Sunday that ended their month-long six-game winless run in all competitions.
Eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 on penalties by old rivals Real Madrid and knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the semi-finals by Barcelona, Atlético kept their slim hopes of claiming the league title alive after the leaders, Barça, and Real both dropped points on Saturday.
Diego Simeone’s Atlético moved on to 60 points, three behind Real who slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by Valencia while Barça were held 1-1 by Real Betis and are comfortable at the top on 67 points with eight games left. Sevilla are 11th on 36 points.
The match had a promising start with the visiting striker Julián Alvarez’s spot-kick in the 25th minute cancelling out Lucien Agoumé’s opener, but it petered out into a dour clash until Barrios made a great run through the middle and unleashed a bullet from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
Tiago Pereira Cardoso’s dream start to life in the Bundesliga hit a snag as the teenage goalkeeper conceded his first goal in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 1-1 draw with St Pauli.
Injuries and other issues affecting the regular goalkeepers Moritz Nicolas and Jonas Omlin have given the Luxembourg keeper a surprise starting spot for Champions League-chasing Gladbach over the last month.
One day before his 19th birthday, Cardoso was on course for his fourth game without conceding – and his fourth win with Gladbach – until Dapo Afolayan hit a fierce shot from long range in the 85th minute. Cardoso leaped at full stretch but could not get a hand to it. Gladbach had been leading through a header from the defender Ko Itakura.
The draw is a setback for Gladbach, which stay sixth in the Bundesliga. They are two points off Mainz in fourth, the last of the Champions League qualification spots. St Pauli are 15th in the 18-team league.
This story will be updated.