Atletico Madrid jumped to second place in LaLiga after beating Real Betis 2-0 in the Spanish capital on Saturday night.
Lucas Torreira, Angel Correa and Mario Hermoso were just three changes from the team that fell to the ground against Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stage.
Atletico threatened to break through immediately after the mid-stage through Luis Suarez from outside the area, but the attempt passed away from the goal.
The two teams pressed shortly before the end of the first half, but Atletico’s tough overall play gave the team no room to move.
Suarez got another chance to give Atlété the lead from the edge of the danger zone, but he sent a boost from a distance from the far post.
And Atletico collided in front right after the end of the first half when Marcos Llorente rushed into the danger zone, shooting past Betis keeper Claudio Bravo from a narrow angle.
Hector Herrera and Yannick Carrasco stepped in for Thomas Lemar and Torreira during the intervening period, with Athlete becoming the first team to make changes.
Betis attempted an instant equalizer from a repeated attempt by William Carvalho, but Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak gave clever reactions to put down the Portuguese.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side was reduced to ten players in 74 minutes when Martin Montoya received orders to shoot down Carrasco with the help of the video assistant referee (VAR).
Atletico confirmed the points upon the death when Suarez finally showed his presence with an easy login to help his team finish second in the League.
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