Still intractable at home, Antoine Griezmann's Atlético Madrid beat Valencia on Sunday (2-0) to come back level with FC Barcelona and climb to third place in La Liga on the 22nd day.
The Colchoneros, third thanks to a better goal difference, are ten lengths behind their rival Real (2nd, 54 points) and eleven behind Girona (1st, 55 points), with a late match to be played on Wednesday against Rayo. Vallecano.
The Brazilian piston Samuel Lino opened the scoring just before half-time with a sublime opening from Griezmann from his own half (45 5, 1-0), before the Dutchman Memphis Depay doubled the lead with a header (57th , 2-0).