

At the Estadio Martinez Valero, Diego Simeone's team had the chance to overtake their city rivals by a point, but Fidel Chaves' heroics for LaLiga's worst team ended their three-match winning streak. On the verge of halftime, Elche took the lead when Grbic, filling in for the injured Jan Oblak, botched his punch from Lautaro Blanco's long throw and allowed captain Fidel to hook his finish into an open goal.
After the interval, Alvaro Morata was denied by an outstanding one-on-one save from Edgar Badia, but Elche came the closest to a second goal with both Pere Milla and Lucas Boye wasting golden opportunities. Despite being two points behind Carlo Ancelotti's team in third with four games left, Atleti still has work to do to pass Los Blancos and guarantee a top-four finish.