Hay Liga! Title race hots up as Atletico lose to Sevilla to let Barça & Madrid back in

Hay Liga! Title race hots up as Atletico lose to Sevilla to let Barça & Madrid back in

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Acuña's goal means Barcelona could move to within one point of Atleti on Monday

Marcos Acuña's second-half header breathed fresh life into La Liga's title race as Sevilla beat leaders Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Sunday. 

Moments after Lucas Ocampos had handled a Kieran Trippier cross, Sevilla broke to score the only goal of the game, with Acuña heading home Jesus Navas' brilliant ball. 

A failure to overturn the goal for Ocampos' handball left Atletico incensed as their lead at the top of the table continues to disappear. 

"Everything's against us," captain Koke fumed. "There was a clear handball before the Sevilla goal, another to stop [Marcos] Llorente going clear, which was a second yellow card. 

"We have to fight against everything. But we are still top and in control of our own destiny."

They're only just in control of their own destiny, though. Real Madrid are now within three points of them and Barcelona could cut the gap to just one point if they beat Real Valladolid on Monday (Sevilla are fourth, eight back from Atletico). 

Barca, in fact, now know that if they win all their remaining 10 games, including against Atletico at Camp Nou in May, they will win the league. 

Atletico will also win the league if they can avoid defeat against Barca and win their other eight games, but their collapse in the second half of the season is proving as spectacular as their opening 19 games were. 

At the halfway stage in Spain's top flight, they sat top of the table with 50 points from a possible 57. They were 10 points clear of Barca and Madrid after beating Cadiz 4-2 at the end of January and also had a game in hand. 

However, since the Cadiz game, the results have dried up. They've dropped 14 points in their last 10 games, winning four, drawing four and losing to Levante and now Sevilla. 

In that time, they have also been knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea. 

Diego Simeone's side may complain about the decisions that went against them in the defeat to Sevilla but they were second best at the Sanchez Pizjuan. 

That said, Atletico did have chances to at least grab a point after falling behind. Mario Hermoso shot over when unmarked in the box and Angel Correa drew a super save from Bono after Luis Suarez's excellent assist. 

"The first half didn't go as we wanted," Simeone lamented. "We were better in the second half, but Sevilla deserved to win. We made things difficult for ourselves; the coach did not get the side right."

Atletico will hope for some respite next week when they host Eibar, while title rivals Madrid and Barca meet in the Clasico at Valdebebas.  

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