Domination Of The Match, Atletico Stuck At The Headquarters Of Levante

Luis Suarez (left) kicks the ball past Levante defender Sergio Postigo (right) during a La Liga match (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The leaders of the Spanish League standings Atletico Madrid were only able to win one point from their visit to Levante's headquarters. Atleti drew 1-1 at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, Valencia, Thursday morning.

One additional point does not affect Atletico's position at the top of the standings, now with 55 points. Diego Simeone's men are six points clear of third-placed Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Levante is stuck in 11th place, now with 28 points, Antara notes on the official Spanish League website.

Hosts Levante took the lead through Macedonian Enis Bardhi's goal, before Marcos Llorente equalized for Atletico in the 37th minute.

Paco Lopez's men were surprisingly able to take the lead first. By relying on his speed, they kicked off the Atletico defense before Jorge de Frutos fed Bardhi, to be hit against Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak couldn't anticipate.

Atletico then dominated possession, but they struggled to create chances until they managed to score an equalizer just before halftime. Atletico's equalizer came from Llorente's long-range shot which was accidentally deflected at center-back Robert Pier to get into his own net.

Llorente had a bitter moment when he failed to score in the Spanish League before February last year. But since then, he has scored 11 league goals.

Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez was able to thwart Luis Suarez's chances, as he slid down to ward off the Uruguayan's volley.

The visitors should have scored their second goal not long after the second half rolled around. From one scheme of attack, Suarez's effort was thwarted by goalkeeper Fernandez, but the ball which was then controlled by Angel Correa could only be knocked over the crossbar.

The leaders squandered a number of chances by Llorente and Suarez, but it was Levante who had a big chance of gaining three points in the final phase of the match. Carlos Clerc's volley shot swiftly against Atletico's goal, but Jan Oblak was able to move swiftly to prevent him from entering the goal.

Atletico will meet Levante again in their next La Liga match on Saturday, February 20. At the end of the week, Atletico will be the home team.

The composition of players:

Levante (4-4-2): Aitor, Jorge Miramon, Sergio Postigo, Rober, Carlos Clerc, Jorge de Frutos (Son 82 '), Mickael Malsa, Nemanja Radoja (Oscar Duarte 46'), Enis Bardhi (Ruben Rochina 86 ' ), Roger (Ruben Vezo 82 '), Jose Luis Morales (Daniel Gomez 70')

Coach: Paco Lopez

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Jan Oblak, Sime Vrsaljko (Geoffrey Kondogbia 46 '), Stefan Savic, Jose Gimenez, Mario Hermoso, Marcos Llorente, Koke (Lucas Torreira 81'), Saul Niguez, Yannick Carrasco (Joao Felix 66 '), Angel Correa (Vitolo 81'), Luis Suarez

Coach: Diego Simeone