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.”
Leganes snap Liga leaders Atletico’s winning streak
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Leganes snap Liga leaders Atletico’s winning streak
- Matija Nastasic nodded Leganes ahead early in the second half
- “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
France qualify for 2026 World Cup; Ronaldo sent off as Portugal lose to Ireland
- Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champions France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday
- Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia
- Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo
LONDON: Kylian Mbappe and France are going to the 2026 World Cup. And Cristiano Ronaldo might be banned from Portugal’s first game there if his team finally win their European qualifying group.
Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champion France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday. But Ronaldo was ejected for the first time in his international career and Portugal will have to wait until Sunday to secure a qualifying spot for the seventh straight time after it was stunned 2-0 by Ireland in Dublin.
Midfielder Michael Olize and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the other goals in a dominant second half from France, the World Cup runner-up in 2022.
Mbappe sent the penalty straight down the middle to break the deadlock in the 55th minute before Olize turned inside the penalty area to curl home the second goal in the 76th at Parc des Princes in western Paris. Mbappé poked in France’s third goal from close range in the 83rd following a goal-mouth scramble. Mbappe moved onto 55 goals and just two behind Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer.
“The French national team will always be better with him in it,” coach Didier Deschamps said about Mbappé. “He makes things easier for us. He performed his role perfectly this evening, as both a player and the captain of the national team.”
Mbappe went close to a hat trick moments later but blazed over after going clean through.
France have won Group D with 13 points, Ukraine and Iceland are tied on seven points and will play for second place when they meet on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s 1st international red card
Portugal will host last-place Armenia in the final qualifying game on Sunday, when Hungary host Ireland at the same time.
Portugal top Group F with 10 points, two ahead of Hungary. Ireland are third with seven points.
Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing Ireland defender Dara O’Shea on the hour. The referee issued a yellow card but minutes later upgraded it to red after a video review.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said he thought the ejection was “a bit harsh,” pointing out that Ronaldo “has never been sent off before in 226 games.”
Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia. FIFA disciplinary rules require its judges to impose a ban of “at least two matches for serious foul play.”
Troy Parrott put the hosts ahead with a close-range header following a corner kick in the 17th minute against the run of play with Portugal dominant. Parrott added his second in the final minute before the break, beating Diogo Costa with a low shot from inside the area.
Haaland’s double
Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo.
The win virtually secures a spot for the high-scoring Norwegians in next year’s tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Italy had to rely on late goals from Gianluca Mancini and substitute Francesco Pio Esposito to win 2-0 at Moldova and is second in Group I, trailing leader Norway by three points.
Italy will likely have to settle for the playoffs where the four-time World Cup champions were eliminated in the past two editions. They host Norway on Sunday and would have to win by a nine-goal margin to directly qualify because of Norway’s vastly superior goal difference.
Haaland has scored 14 of Norway’s European-best 33 goals in seven group-stage games. The Manchester City striker was born two years after Norway last reached the World Cup.
Still perfect England
Already-qualified England continued to cruise.
They beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to keep a perfect record in Group K and are yet to concede a goal.
Bukayo Saka fired England ahead on a rebound with a left-foot volley in the 28th after an initial shot by Nico O’Reilly was blocked. Substitute forward Eberechi Eze added the second in the 90th off a pass from another substitute, Phil Foden.
Albania beat Andorra 1-0 in the same group to secure the runner-up spot.
