La Liga Round Up: Atletico Madrid revive title push as Rayo slip

Saturday’s La Liga action featured another key twist in the thrilling title race as Atletico Madrid stormed to a 3-0 victory away at Valencia.

Every step in the title race will be carefully managed by Diego Simeone and Co. but they have sealed a key edge this weekend.

Rayo Vallecano saw their push for European qualification hit by defeat at home to Villarreal as Espanyol left it late to win at Alaves.

Let’s see how Saturday games unfolded…

Alaves 0-1 Espanyol

Espanyol struck the key blow late on in a battle between two out of form sides in the Basque Country.

The hosts suffered a late loss, to make it five La Liga games without a win, as Espanyol sealed their first away win of 2024/25.

Early chances were at a premium and Alaves were denied a penalty after the restart.

However, the one opportunity late on landed for Espanyol, as Fernando Calero shrugged off his marker to head home a late free kick.

Soy Fernando Calero, 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐎 𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐎 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐎.

El gol de @fcalero5 que vale más que tres puntos.pic.twitter.com/wVOmoRE5uN

— Offsider (@Offsider_ES) February 22, 2025

Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Villarreal 

Rayo Vallecano are aiming to clinch a European spot for the first time in two decades but their recent form has stuttered.

Defeat at Barcelona in midweek ended their unbeaten streak T the start of 2025 and they lost out at home to Villarreal to slip down the table further.

Despite the prospect of harnessing the power of Vallecas, the first half dismissal of Jorge de Frutos disrupted the home side.

Similarly to the Espanyol win at Alaves, one late chance decided the result, as Ayoze Perez fired home from close range.

11 – Ayoze Pérez ha anotado 11 goles en 18 partidos en LaLiga 2024/25, siendo el primer jugador del @VillarrealCF que alcanza esta cifra tras sus primeros 18 encuentros de una campaña en la competición desde Gerard Moreno en la 2020/21 (13). Destacado. pic.twitter.com/9Jjp61b8PF

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 22, 2025

Valencia 0-3 Atletico Madrid

Things were more routine for Atletico Madrid at Valencia as Julian Alvarez brought himself up to nine league goals for the season with a first half double at the Estadio Mestalla.

That dented any chance of Los Che producing something special against the title chasers as Angel Correa came off the bench to clinch victory for Diego Simeone.

Julián Alvarez is UNSTOPPABLE for Atlético Madrid pic.twitter.com/6RVfAqapQJ

— OneFootball (@OneFootball) February 22, 2025

Images via Getty Images/One Football