A week before their clash in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United (February 23 at Wanda-Metropolitano), the Colchoneros folded in the 54th minute on a goal from Gonzalo Melero, shifted to the right from the penalty area by Jorge de Frutos.
Diego Simeone's men only scored one shot (in stoppage time) against the worst defense in the Spanish championship.
Worse: they conceded their 16th goal in 7 matches, a terrible record for a team once known for its padlocked defense.
In the 90th + 6, the Argentinian Angel Correa thought he equalized on an acrobatic return, after a touch, but the referee canceled his goal due to a prior push from one of his teammates.
The Argentinian striker of Atlético Madrid, after the home defeat, 1-0 against the red lantern Levante, in a late match of the 21st day of LaLiga, on February 16, 2022 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium JAVIER SORIANO AFP
Seconds later, Frenchman Mickaël Malsa came close to scoring one of the goals of the year for Levante, but his long shot from the center circle crashed into Jan Oblak's crossbar.
It is another failure for the people of Madrid, and perhaps even more so for Diego Simeone, the totemic coach of this formation, in place for ten years but who is experiencing one of his worst passages since his appointment on the bench colchonero , in December 2011.
Atlético Madrid's Argentine coach Diego Simeone in the 1-0 home loss to bottom side Levante in a late match of LaLiga matchday 21 on February 16, 2022 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium JAVIER SORIANO AFP
With this defeat, Atlético remains at the gates of the qualifying places for the C1, 5th behind Barça and fifteen points behind the leader, Real Madrid (54 points).
Levante, for its part, offers itself a 2nd victory and a breather at the bottom of the classification.
However, the Valencians remain ten points behind the first non-relegation player, Granada (24 points).
© 2022 AFP