La Liga battle intensifies with Atletico, Real Madrid victories

The battle at the top of the La Liga Santander table continues to be extremely tight with both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid claiming victories over the weekend.

Atletico still sits on top of the table with 76 points thanks to a narrow victory away against Elche on Saturday. The match ended 1-0 with Marcos Llorente being the lone goalscorer. Luis Suarez had an early effort ruled out for offside, but Llorente was successful with a goal that came off a deflection from Josema in the 23rd minute. However, Diego Simeone's side did not exactly hold on to their early dominance.

They thought they had an opportunity to extend their lead with a penalty awarded after a Diego Gonzalez handball in the closing stages of the first half, but VAR overruled the call.

The leaders missed more opportunities after another offside goal by Suarez. They then found themselves in danger of dropping points when Elche was awarded a penalty in the closing minutes following a Llorente handball. It was a controversial penalty after Fidel struck the woodwork but with Jan Oblak appearing to have left his line early. However, VAR did not order a retake and Atletico was able to hold on to the narrow victory and the top spot on the table.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid kept themselves just two points behind the leaders after a 2-0 victory against Osasuna. It was a much-needed victory for Los Blancos, who dropped points in two out of their last three La Liga matches.

The defending champions appeared to be in danger of finishing with another draw, but they managed to turn things around with a late push that produced two goals. Real Madrid was in control from the start, even if they had to call up Castilla players to fill the gaps left by several injured players and those that needed to be rested for the upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final against Chelsea.

Antonio Blanco and Sergio Arribas did well to hold down the fort but in the end, old timers Eder Militao and Casemiro sealed the deal with goals in the 76th and 80th minutes.