Madrid, March 13 (BNA): Joao Felix maintained his impressive scoring form to help Atletico Madrid beat Cadiz 2-1 at home in La Liga on Friday before Diego Simeone’s side headed to Manchester United to seal the Champions League title. .
After struggling for most of the season, Atletico are playing at their best in months, with four consecutive league victories cut only by a 1-1 home draw with United two weeks ago, the Associated Press reported.
Atlético will visit Old Trafford on Tuesday for the second leg of the round of 16.
“We are entering the last phase of the season, where winning is most important,” Simeone said, while downplaying any positive impact of winning the next game.
“It is important for the league and only the league. The Champions League is another competition. On Sunday and Monday we will start to motivate for that.”
Felix scored his fifth goal in as many matches after scoring early to set Atlético on their way to another win.
The 22-year-old forward intercepted a poor pass from Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma and curled the ball softly from a tight angle just two minutes into the game. It was his fifth goal in as many matches.
The hosts almost had 10 players left in the 40th minute when Reinildo Mandava was shown a red card for a low tackle, but the referee changed it to a yellow card after a video review.
Alvaro Negredo raised Cadiz’s level just before the end of the first half when he headed in a Pacha Espino cross. The Atletico defense lost track of the veteran Cadiz striker as four attacking players flooded the penalty area.
After seeing his attack struggle, Simeone sent for Luis Suarez and Angel Correa in place of Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco with half an hour left.
Suárez and Correa played a role in the award-winning Rodrigo de Paul. Suarez passed to Correa, whose shot was kicked by Ledesma, only for the ball to land in De Paul’s path in the penalty area. The Argentine midfielder directed the ball to the corner of the net.
But Atletico needed a defensive pause by central defender Jose Jimenez to protect the win. Jiménez used his header to parry Luis Hernandez’s shot after trying a poorly clear of goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Atletico briefly ended up with ten men after substitute Javi Serrano received a straight red after facing Alex Fernandez two minutes from time.
The referee also expelled two Cadiz employees from the bunker, apparently for protesting in the last minutes.
Atletico advanced to third place ahead of Barcelona. The defending champions are 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid and four points behind Sevilla in second place.
Cadiz remained in the relegation zone.