Barcelona: Atlético Madrid honored the club’s victims of the coronavirus pandemic and earned a hard-fought victory in its first home game since the Spanish league resumed.
Substitute Victor “Vitolo” Machín scored the winner in the 81st minute of a 1-0 win over Valladolid on Saturday. The victory lifted Diego Simeone’s team past Sevilla and into third place on head-to-head goal difference. Barcelona leads the league by three points over Real Madrid, which can pull level if it wins at Real Sociedad on Sunday. Madrid holds the tiebreaker between the two in case of a tie. Atlético and Sevilla trail Barcelona by 13 points with eight games left.
Atlético used the occasion of its first match at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in more than three months to pay tribute to its former coach Radomir Antic, three former players, and a 14-year-old youth player who died during the pandemic. A jersey with Antic’s name was placed on a seat next to Simeone on the bench, while the four players had shirts with their names draped on seats in the empty stands. A violinist played the club’s anthem to honor all of Spain’s over 28,000 virus victims before kickoff.
Vitolo went on in the 73rd and broke the deadlock when he headed in after goalkeeper José Caro failed to punch a corner away, leaving his goal undefended. The ball fell to Vitolo at the far post and he guided his header home. (AP)
