Levante 0-2 Atletico Madrid: Grimaldo and Simeone seal seventh straight win

Atletico Madrid's superb run of form in LaLiga continued on Saturday, as goals in either half from Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone earned a 2-0 win away to Levante.

Diego Simeone's side have now put together a run of seven consecutive league wins, moving them, at least temporarily, top of the table ahead of Barcelona's clash with Alaves.

But it was Levante who started the brighter of the two sides at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, with Dani Requena forcing Jan Oblak into a sprawling stop in the 11th minute.

Morten Hjulmand thought he had given Atletico a 16th-minute lead when he collected Alex Baena's clever pass inside the penalty area before finishing past Mathew Ryan, but the goal was ruled out following a VAR review, after the Denmark midfielder had strayed into an offside position.

However, the visitors' pressure paid off nine minutes before the break, when Jon Ander Olasagasti got himself in all sorts of trouble when trying to clear Baena's pass, allowing Grimaldo to steal in and rifle home at Ryan's near post.

Atletico had another goal chalked off in the 54th minute for offside, with David Hancko just beyond the Levante defence after Julian Alvarez's free-kick was parried into his path.

But they were not to be denied a second goal, with Simeone rounding off a brilliant team move that began deep in Levante's half. The Argentine slotted past Ryan after holding off Nacho Perez's challenge.

Levante piled on the pressure in their quest to halve the deficit, but a tame header late on from Roger Brugue was their best chance as Atletico comfortably held on.

Atletico in seventh heaven as Simeone equals LaLiga record

With Barcelona not in action until later on Saturday, Atletico saw this as an opportunity to lay down a marker of their title credentials, and they showed they are here to challenge Hansi Flick's side in LaLiga this term.

Atletico have now won their last seven LaLiga games, their best such run since January 2025, when they won eight in a row. To match that streak, they will have to conquer Barcelona in their final game before the international break.

It was also a significant result for Simeone, who claimed his 344th LaLiga victory in his 565th match in the competition (D123 L98). He has now equalled Luis Aragones (344 in 756 matches) as the manager with the most victories in the entire history of the division.

And the triumph was built on the foundations laid by Grimaldo, who took advantage of some poor Levante defending. He now has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in LaLiga this season, the highest tally of any defender.

But it was far from a free-flowing display, particularly in the final third. Atletico only managed to register an expected goals (xG) total of 0.58 from their 11 shots, compared to Levante's tally of 1.25 from their 20 attempts, but Simeone's side were clinical when it mattered.