Atletico Madrid Spurn Chance to Close Liga Gap After Late Valencia Leveller

Atletico Madrid and Valencia fought out a feisty 1-1 draw at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday in what was a critical encounter in both the race for Champions League places and the title in La Liga. 

Thanks to a well-worked free-kick that was hammered home by Koke, Diego Simeone's men took the lead just after the half-hour mark and, in general play, dominated the game until the midfielder's substitution in the 69th minute. 

Indeed, Koke's withdrawal seemed to mark a change in approach for Atleti, who sat deeper without the Spain international and invited pressure from a Valencia outfit that had struggled for fluency across the opening hour. 

That played into the visitors' hands, with Nuno Espirito Santo's side enjoying a 15-minute spell of dominance from the 70th minute, which saw Los Che grab an equalising goal from a set piece through Shkodran Mustafi. 

When the final whistle blew at 1-1, we weren't any closer to learning who might take decisive control of third place in the Primera Division. 

For Simeone, the loss will undoubtedly conjure mixed feelings.

All season the Argentinian has insisted Valencia and Sevilla are his team's major rivals in the chase of European places—he made remarks of that nature again in a pre-match press conference during the buildup to this game—and consecutive meetings with those opponents have brought about consecutive stalemates. 

Such a situation has meant Los Colchoneros have maintained their position in third on the league table but also haven't been able to distance themselves from Valencia, who sit just one point back in fourth. 

After holding a 1-0 lead until the 79th minute, Simeone is likely to consider Sunday's result as two points dropped rather than one point gained. 

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

However, the Atletico manager will have been impressed by his team's vastly improved display in midfield. 

After being overrun centrally by Celta Vigo, Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla in recent weeks, there was an edginess and intensity to the home side's midfield that's been missing since the 4-0 hammering of Real Madrid at the beginning of February.

Of course, the return of Koke to the starting XI played a major role in that, but Simeone's veterans, Gabi and Tiago, also showed a noticeable improvement.  

Chasing down balls incessantly and providing a drive that's been absent for the last month, Atletico's central leaders recaptured some of the form that propelled the men from the Vicente Calderon to last season's title. 

However, Tiago will be bitterly disappointed not to score in the second half—after Diego Godin headed a corner kick into the six-yard box only for the Portuguese to lift his shot from close range into the bar. 

In the end, the moment proved decisive, with Koke's goal not proving to be enough on its own as Mustafi rescued a late point for Valencia. 

Also notable on Sunday was Mario Mandzukic's exclusion from the starting XI in favour of Fernando Torres.

In the wake of Atletico's draw with Sevilla, Marca's A.R Barbero and L. Aznar reported that Simeone wasn't pleased with the demeanour and effort levels of the Croatian after he left him on the bench in Andalusia. 

Mandzukic's second straight appearance as a substitute on Sunday appeared to justify that report, with many likely to view the striker's benching as a reminder from Simeone that no one is bigger than the team at the Vicente Calderon. 

And answering his manager's call, Torres was outstanding in his attack on the ball until his withdrawal on the hour mark, with the Spaniard enjoying an entertaining tussle with Valencia's Nicolas Otamendi. 

Atletico Madrid
Valencia
Player	Rating
Miguel Angel Moya	5.0
Juanfran	6.8
Jose Gimenez	7.0
Diego Godin	6.7
Guilherme Siqueira	6.2
Arda Turan	6.8
Gabi	7.1
Tiago	8.2
Koke	8.0
Raul Garcia	7.6
Fernando Torres	6.8
Mario Mandzukic (sub 61')	5.8
Mario Suarez (sub 69')	6.1
Raul Jimenez (sub 81')	6.0
Player	Rating
Diego Alves	6.9
Antonio Barragan	6.3
Shkodran Mustafi	7.6
Nicolas Otamendi	7.2
Jose Gaya	7.8
Javi Fuego	5.9
Enzo Perez	5.8
Daniel Parejo	6.4
Sofiane Feghouli	6.2
Pablo Piatti	6.5
Alvaro Negredo	6.6
Rodrigo (sub 58')	6.1
Andre Gomes (sub 68')	6.3
Lucas Orban (sub 90')	6.0

Of course, it would be easy to see Atletico's second straight draw—and third game in their last four in which they've dropped points—as a blow that effectively ends their title hopes. 

But that's not quite the case. 

With Real Madrid slipping up against Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona replacing Los Blancos at the summit of the table, the gap between Atletico and the top hasn't changed at all—it's still seven points; only the team to catch has changed. 

Additionally, Atleti's run home is considerably easier than Barcelona's: Simeone's men have already played Real Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla twice and only have Barcelona from the top five to come; Barca still have clashes with all four of their fellow top-five rivals looming. 

Thus, Sunday's draw was actually just a missed opportunity, and the defending champions are still in the hunt for the league title if they can build on Sunday's improved performance.