Atletico Madrid slumped to an embarrassing home defeat as LaLiga’s basement club Levante caused a huge upset at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Gonzalo Meleros struck nine minutes after the restart to give Levante just their second win of the season, as Atleti missed an opportunity to climb back into the top-four.
Atleti had Jan Oblak to thank for keeping the scores level in the 23rd-minute when Stefan Savic’s misjudged header allowed Jorge de Frutos to race through on goal but he couldn’t find a way past the goalkeeper.
Levante have conceded a league-high 50 goals so far this season but were troubled little throughout. In fact, Diego Simeone’s side failed to land a shot on target in the entire match, although Thomas Lemar should have at least tested goalkeeper Daniel Cardenas with a shot from the top of the box just before half-time.
The hosts were stunned when Meleros gave Levante a 54th-minute lead, tucking the ball past Oblak at his near post from de Frutos’ pass.
Atletico Madrid thought they had a reprieve when the referee adjudged Oscar Duarte blocked Geoffrey Kondogbia’s shot with his hand inside the penalty area, but the decision was overturned following a VAR check as Marcos Llorente was offside in the build-up.
Levante looked more likely to score the game’s second goal and Oblak did well to prevent de Frutos from doubling Levante’s lead.
Seven minutes of injury-time were added on, but Atleti failed to find a much-needed equaliser, and their frustration went up a notch when Angel Correa scored a stunning overhead-kick only for the referee to rule it out for a foul. Levante forward Mickael Malsa almost compounded their misery with an ambitious effort that crashed against the woodwork.
Defeat sees Atletico Madrid miss the opportunity to climb above Barcelona into the Champions League spots as they remain fifth and the Catalans have a game in hand over their rivals. Levante stay bottom and are now 10 points adrift of safety.
TALKING POINT – ATLETI’S SEASON SINKS TO A NEW LOW
Results have been far from what you would expect from the reigning Spanish champions, but this ought to have been a home banker. Relegation-bound Levante had only won one league game this season, conceding an eye-watering 50 goals, and yet Atleti failed to barely lay a glove on them all night. Defensively, they were found wanting as their fragile back-line was exposed once again for the visitors’ goal. It was too much for Jose Maria Gimenez to take and he reacted angrily to the home supporters’ jeers as the atmosphere turned sour.
You have to go back to December for the last time Atleti put together back-to-back wins and Simeone will take the flak. His decision to partner the in-form Correa with Matheus Cunha will raise questions as the forwards looked like strangers. Luis Suarez was only given 25 minutes to make a difference but showed more than the latter did in the preceding 65 minutes. And yet they still failed to register a single shot on target.
MAN OF THE MATCH – JORGE DE FRUTOS (LEVANTE)
A livewire throughout, de Frutos assisted Levante’s winner with a splendid pass. His perfectly-timed runs and movement caused panic in Atleti’s defence and he was unfortunate not to cap his performance with a goal of his own.
PLAYER RATINGS
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, 6 Llorente 6, Savic 5, Gimenez 5, Reinildo 5, de Paul 6, Kondogbia 6, Koke 6, Lemar 5, Correa 6, Cunha 5.. subs: Joao Felix 6, Vrsaljko 5, Lodi 5, Suarez 6, Herrera 5.
Levante: Cardenas 6, Miramon 6, Rober 6, Duarte 6, Caceres 6, Son 7, de Frutos 8*, Pepulu 7, Melero 7, Bardhi 6, Marti 6.. subs: Morales 5, Malsa 6, Vukcevic N/A, Gomez 5, Coke N/A.
KEY MOMENTS
23′ – OBLAK RESCUES ATLETI! The hosts are fortunate not to be behind! A woeful header from Savic is pounced on by de Frutos, who races through on goal with Oblak just to beat. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper makes himself big, narrows the angle and saves with his feet!
45’+2 – GREAT CHANCE FOR LEMAR! This is Atletico’s best opportunity so far! Levante’s defence fail to clear their lines, Lemar pounces but from the edge of the box he can only rifle his shot over the bar. Should have done better!
54′ – GOAL! ATLETICO MADRID 0-1 LEVANTE (GONZALO MELERO): Is a shock on the cards?! Levante, who have just ONE league win this season, are ahead at the home of the LaLiga champions! de Frutos spots Melero in space and he makes no mistake, tucking it past Oblak at his near post.
58′ – PENALTY OVERTURNED – Kondogbia’s shot is slammed at the hand of Duarte and after a moment the referee points to the spot. But hold on, VAR is having a look. Replays show Llorente was offside in the build-up and Atleti won’t get the penalty they craved. The decision to punish Duarte for a handball seemed harsh in the first instance!
64′ – OBLAK SAVE! Having set up the opener, de Frutos almost gets on the scoresheet himself, firing a shot from an acute angle. But Oblak prevents him from doubling the struggler’s advantage, his strong hand keeping out the shot.
90’+ 6 – GOAL RULED OUT! Correa scores with an acrobatic overhead-kick – but it’s not going to count! Gimenez is adjudged to have committed a foul in the build-up! Correa is booked for his protestations.
90’+7 – LEVANTE HIT THE WOODWORK! This almost seals it! Malsa spots Oblak off his line and tries an ambitious effort from distance. It looks destined for the goal but it crashes off the woodwork!
