MADRID: Antoine Griezmann missed a late penalty as La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid stumbled to a shock 1-0 defeat at Leganes on Saturday, ending a club record run of 15 consecutive victories.
Matija Nastasic nodded Leganes ahead early in the second half, with Griezmann dragging a poor penalty wide in the final stages to consign Atletico to a second defeat of the league season.
Diego Simeone’s side’s superb form toward the end of 2024 took them above rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona at the halfway point, but their poor display against Leganes opened the door to Spain’s big two.
Real Madrid have the chance to move top of the table on Sunday when they host Las Palmas, while Barcelona can cut down the six-point gap on Atletico later Saturday at Getafe.
“We didn’t get into the game well enough, I thought we were low on energy, it wasn’t enough from us,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told DAZN.
“We’ll keep our head up after (winning) 15 games, we lost this one and we have to keep going forward... unfortunately the streak is over.”
The goalkeeper said Atletico would keep battling to win the title for the first time since 2021.
“The league is long, there are a lot of games until the end and it’s clear that it doesn’t end in January,” added Oblak.
Madrid minnows Leganes, 15th, battled well in defense to keep Atletico at bay in the first half.
Rojiblancos striker Julian Alvarez hit the woodwork and had another effort blocked, while Griezmann struck the post and Marko Dmitrovic batted away his second effort from the rebound.
At the other end Juan Cruz threatened on a rare forray forward for the hosts but Oblak reacted well to keep out his cross-shot.
Early in the second half, Serbian defender Nastasic headed Leganes in front from a corner, and they protected their advantage without much stress until controversially conceding a penalty for a debatable handball by Sergio Gonzalez.
Griezmann took responsibility from the penalty spot, but rolled his 90th-minute effort wide of the goal.
Substitute Angel Correa had a final chance to level for Atletico but Dmitrovic bravely blocked his effort from close range to secure Leganes’ victory.
Leganes also beat Barcelona in December and Dmitrovic said their shock wins come down to elbow grease.
“There’s nothing special (about the team), there’s work behind every game, the whole week,” said Dmitrovic.
“Yes, we were capable of beating two of the three biggest sides in La Liga, now there’s no excuses — what we did against Barca and Atletico we have to repeat in other games.
“You can’t guarantee you’ll win games in this league, but the same effort, desire, hope and work, we have to repeat.”
Atletico must now bounce back in the Champions League, where they are aiming to reach the knock-out rounds, against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
“They were 15 extraordinary games, I feel enormously proud at having set the (consecutive) winning record in Atletico’s history,” Simeone told DAZN.
“Their goal gave them the strength to keep working hard in defense, and it’s a strength to defend as well as Leganes did...
“We have to accept that defeat is part of the game and prepare ourselves for Tuesday.”