Soccer-Lacklustre Atletico fall 2-0 away to Alaves

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Atletico Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - April 21, 2024 Deportivo Alaves' Antonio Sivera in action REUTERS/Vincent West

VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain -Atletico Madrid suffered a 2-0 LaLiga defeat away to Alaves on Sunday courtesy of a first-half goal from Carlos Benavidez and Luis Rioja's superb late effort as the visitors missed the chance to cement their advantage in fourth place.

Diego Simeone's side were far from their best after being knocked out of the Champions League in midweek by Borussia Dortmund and remain on 61 points, seven behind Girona and only three clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao in the battle for European spots.

"After Tuesday's (Champions League) blow, it's not easy to come out of it. Right away, their first chance was a goal. We couldn't have a first half where we could play the game we wanted," coach Simeone told DAZN.

"The second half was different, we were closer to equalising. Rioja then scored a great goal. We congratulate them and let's get back to work."

The hosts grabbed the lead in the 15th minute when captain Benavidez pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box to curl a fine low shot past keeper Jan Oblak.

Rioja's stunning volley in stoppage time sealed the win that moved the Basque side further away from relegation, climbing to 13th place with 35 points, 10 points clear of third-bottom Cadiz.

"I'm very proud of my team mates. It means a lot, we want to be in the top flight next year and every game costs a lot," Alaves keeper Antonio Sivera said.

"Today from the first minute we were very strong. We were focused for the whole 90 minutes and we were lucky not to concede a goal and for Rioja's goal."

Atletico next host Athletic on Saturday in a key match for the last Champions League berth.

"We have to do much better. Alaves needed the three points as much as we did. It's a bad situation," Oblak said.

"I'm disappointed, but we are strong. We have to keep going. We're together to get into the Champions League and we're going to do everything we can to change this."

(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico CityEditing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)