Atletico cuts Barca gap to 8 points

Atlético de Madrid registered its third 2-0 win in a week, this time against Levante, and cut Barcelona's lead at the top in the process. Although the squad keeps insisting that it is taking each game as it comes and that challenging for the title isn't on the agenda, it remains the best placed team to pounce should Barça stumble again.

Atlético didn't need to be at its best to dispose of Levante, and it did so with minimum fuss and despite the lack of goals from Falcao, whose injury was the only dampener. With the Colombian misfiring, Adrián and Koke stepped up to the plate to spearhead the Atleti charge.

It was one-way traffic in the first half, with the ball entrenched in the Levante half, the away side happy to soak up pressure and hit on the counterattack. Simeone's men broke the deadlock with an extremely well-worked move that was almost impossible to defend against. Tiago lofted a great ball over the top for full-back Manquillo, who cushioned a superb first-time pass across for Adrián to squeeze a left-footed shot into the empty net from a tight angle.

Ten minutes into the second half and a hush fell over the crowd. Just as he was about to race through on goal, star striker Falcao pulled up, grimacing with pain. The expression on the face of 'The Tiger' made it clear he was unable to continue. The Atlético faithful's blues lasted all of three minutes, when Koke curled a howitzer right into the top corner to get the crowd roaring again.