Atletico Madrid return to winning ways as La Liga title race heats up

There has been so much talk about the competitiveness of the Premier League this season, the battles going on in the La Liga have been completely swept under the carpet. Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Villarreal are currently in a very tight title race in the Spanish top flight.

At one point, Atletico Madrid seemed to be running away with the title after making an unbeaten start to the season. However, the Rojiblancos were brought back down to earth after losing 2-0 to Real Madrid two weeks ago.

The defeat to their rivals, though, did not dampen the spirit of Diego Simeone’s side, who returned to winning ways by beating Elche 3-1 on Saturday.

Nothing better than winning...𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti | ⚽ #AtletiElche pic.twitter.com/9MVUT4Lm8a

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 19, 2020

Atletico Madrid back at the top of the La Liga

The Rojiblancos opened the scoring through Luis Suarez in the 41st minute before the Uruguayan striker doubled their lead 13 minutes after the break.

Lucas Boye halved the deficit for Elche in the 64th minute. However, Diego Costa left no room for a potential comeback after converting a penalty in the 80th minute to seal an important 3-1 win for Atletico Madrid.

The win sees Atletico move back to the top of La Liga. Although Simeone’s side is currently level on points with Real Madrid, they have two games in hand. Should they win those games, they will move six points clear of their rivals.

2⃣9⃣ points – @atletienglish ❤️2⃣9⃣ points – @realmadriden 🤍Which of the Madrid teams has impressed you most this season in #LaLigaSantander? pic.twitter.com/B1fGa0DXfu

— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) December 20, 2020

Earlier this week, Simeone rejected claims by his former assistant German Burgos that Atletico Madrid are genuine title contenders.

"They are opinions. German was with us and knows our way of thinking," Simeone said, as quoted by Marca. "We don't go away from the game-by-game idea; we are not going to stop thinking along these lines."

"Tomorrow, we have an opponent [Elche] who are doing well. Maybe the results have not been fair with what they want to do," added Simeone.

However, the Argentine knows in his heart that his side has a very good chance of winning the La Liga title, considering Real Madrid's consistency issues and Barcelona underperforming this season.

The race for the La Liga is set to heat up in the coming weeks, but Atletico Madrid can consolidate their lead at the top if they keep their winning run going.